Alfred H. Miles, ed. The Sacred Poets of the Nineteenth Century. 1907.
By Crown Him with many crownsMatthew Bridges (18001894)
C
The Lamb upon His throne;
Hark! how the heavenly anthem drowns
All music but its own!
Awake, my soul, and sing
Of Him who died for thee;
And hail Him as thy matchless King,
Through all eternity.
The God Incarnate born,—
Whose Arm those crimson trophies won
Which now His Brow adorn!
Fruit of the Mystic Rose,
As of that Rose the Stem:
The Root, whence Mercy ever flows,—
The Babe of Bethlehem!
Behold His Hands and Side,—
Rich wounds, yet visible above,
In beauty glorified:
No angel in the sky
Can fully bear that sight,
But downward bends his burning eye
At mysteries so bright!
Whose power a sceptre sways,
From pole to pole,—that wars may cease,
Absorbed in prayer and praise:
His reign shall know no end,
And round His piercèd Feet
Fair flowers of Paradise extend
Their fragrance ever sweet.
The Potentate of Time,—
Creator of the rolling spheres,
Ineffably sublime!
Glass’d in a sea of light,
Where everlasting waves
Reflect His Throne,—the Infinite!
Who lives,—and loves,—and saves.
One with the Father known,—
And the blest Spirit, through Him given,
From yonder triune throne!
All hail! Redeemer,—hail!
For Thou hast died for me;
Thy praise shall never, never fail,
Throughout eternity!