Poetry Explorer

Classic and Contemporary Poetry

AWAKE, ARISE, THY LIGHT IS COME by THOMAS MOORE

Awake, arise, thy light is come;
The nations, that before outshone thee,
Now at thy feet lie dark and dumb--
The glory of the Lord is on thee!


Arise--the Gentiles to thy ray,
From every nook of earth shall cluster;
And kings and princes haste to pay
Their homage to thy rising lustre.


Lift up thine eyes around, and see
O'er foreign fields, o'er farthest waters,
Thy exiled sons return to thee,
To thee return thy home-sick daughters.


And camels rich, from Midians' tents,
Shall lay their treasures down before thee;
And Saba bring her gold and scents,
To fill thy air and sparkle o'er thee.


See, who are these that, like a cloud,
Are gathering from all earth's dominions,
Like doves, long absent, when allowed
Homeward to shoot their trembling pinions.


Surely the isles shall wait for me,
The ships of Tarshish round will hover,
To bring thy sons across the sea,
And waft their gold and silver over.


And Lebanon thy pomp shall grace--
The fir, the pine, the palm victorious
Shall beautify our Holy Place,
And make the ground I tread on glorious.


No more shall dischord haunt thy ways,
Nor ruin waste thy cheerless nation;
But thou shalt call thy portal Praise,
And thou shalt name thy walls Salvation.


The sun no more shall make thee bright,
Nor moon shall lend her lustre to thee;
But God, Himself, shall be thy Light,
And flash eternal glory thro' thee.


Thy sun shall never more go down;
A ray from heaven itself descended
Shall light thy everlasting crown--
Thy days of mourning all are ended.


My own, elect, and righteous Land!
The Branch, for ever green and vernal,
Which I have planted with this hand--
Live thou shalt in Life Eternal.




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