Scripture Verse

Light, and gladness, and joy, and honor. Esther 2:16

Introduction

portrait
Henry T. Smart (1813–1879)

Words: Fred­er­ick L. Hos­mer, 1903.

Music: Lan­ca­shire Hen­ry T. Smart, 1836 (🔊 pdf nwc).

portrait
Frederick L. Hosmer (1840–1929)

Lyrics

O day of light and glad­ness,
Of pro­phe­cy and song,
What thoughts with­in us wak­en,
What hal­lowed me­mo­ries throng!
The soul’s ho­ri­zon wid­ens,
Past, pre­sent, fu­ture blend;
And ris­es on our vi­sion
The life that hath no end.

Earth feels the sea­son’s joy­ance,
From moun­tain range to sea
The tides of life are flow­ing
Fresh, ma­ni­fold and free.
In val­ley and on up­land,
By for­est path­ways dim,
All na­ture lifts in cho­rus
The re­sur­rect­ion hymn.

O Lord of life eter­nal,
To Thee our hearts up­raise
The East­er song of glad­ness,
The Pas­sov­er of praise.
Thine are the ma­ny man­sions,
The dead die not to Thee,
Who fille­st from Thy full­ness
Time and eter­ni­ty.