Easter-day / Henry Vaughan

Easter-day

Thou, whose sad heart, and weeping head lies low,
    Whose cloudy breast cold damps invade,
Who never feels the Sun, nor smooths thy brow,
    But sits oppressed in the shade,
                Awake, awake!
And in His Resurrection partake,
    Who, on this day (that thou might rise as He)
    Rose up, and cancelled two deaths due to thee.

Awake! awake! and like the Sun, disperse
    All mists that would usurp this day;
Where are thy Palms, thy branches, and thy verse?
    Hosanna! hark! why dost thou stay?
                Arise, arise,
And with His healing blood anoint thine eyes,
    Thy inward eyes; His blood will cure thy mind,
    Whose spittle only could restore the blind.

~~

Henry Vaughan (1622-1695)

from Silex Scintillans; or, Sacred poems

(edited by W.A. Lewis Bettany), 1905

[Poem is in the public domain worldwide]

Henry Vaughan biography

Kay Kenyon, Easter Day on Cam Peak, 2011. CC BY-SA 2.0, Wikimedia Commons.

Christ's Nativity / Henry Vaughan

Christ's Nativity

         I.

Awake, glad heart! get up, and sing!
It is the birth-day of thy King.
         Awake! awake!
         The Sun doth shake
Light from his locks, and, all the way
Breathing perfumes, doth spice the day.

Awake, awake! hark how th’ wood rings;
Winds whisper, and the busy springs
         A concert make;
         Awake! awake!
Man is their high-priest, and should rise
To offer up the sacrifice.

I would I were some bird, or star,
Flutt’ring in woods, or lifted far
         Above this inn
         And road of sin!
Then either star or bird should be
Shining or singing still to thee.

I would I had in my best part
Fit rooms for thee! or that my heart
         Were so clean as
         Thy manger was!
But I am all filth, and obscene;
Yet, if thou wilt, thou canst make clean.

Sweet Jesu! will then; let no more
This leper haunt and soil thy door!
         Cure him, ease him,
         O release him!
And let once more, by mystic birth,
The Lord of life be born in earth.


         II.

How kind is Heav'n to man! If here
         One sinner doth amend.
Straight there is joy, and ev'ry sphere
         In music doth contend.
And shall we then no voices lift?
         Are mercy and salvation
Not worth our thanks? Is life a gift
         Of no more acceptation?
Shall He that did come down from thence,
         And here for us was slain,
Shall he be now cast off? no sense
         Of all his woes remain ?
Can neither love nor suff 'rings bind?
         Are we all stone and earth?
Neither his bloudy passions mind,
         Nor one day blesse his birth?
Alas, my God! thy birth now here
         Must not be numbered in the year.

~~

Henry Vaughan (1622-1695)

from Silex Scintillans; or, Sacred poems, 1854

[Poem is in the public domain worldwide]

Henry Vaughan biography

"Christ's Nativity" read by Emma Topping.

The True Christmas / Henry Vaughan

The True Christmas

So stick up ivy and the bays,
And then restore the heathen ways.
Green will remind you of the spring,
Though this great day denies the thing
And mortifies the earth and all
But your wild revels, and loose hall.
Could you wear flowers, and roses strow
Blushing upon your breasts’ warm snow,
That very dress your lightness will
Rebuke, and wither at the ill.
The brightness of this day we owe
Not unto music, masque, nor show:
Nor gallant furniture, nor plate;
But to the manger’s mean estate.
His life while here, as well as birth,
Was but a check to pomp and mirth;
And all man’s greatness you may see
Condemned by His humility.
Then leave your open house and noise,
To welcome Him with holy joys,
And the poor shepherd’s watchfulness:
Whom light and hymns from heaven did bless.
What you abound with, cast abroad
To those that want, and ease your load.
Who empties thus, will bring more in;
But riot is both loss and sin.
Dress finely what comes not in sight,
And then you keep your Christmas right.

~~
Henry Vaughan (1622-1695), 1678

from Silex Scintillans, 1847

[Poem is in the public domain worldwide]

Henry Vaughan biography

"The True Christmas" read for LibriVox. Courtesy LibriVox Audiobooks.