1 Give ear, give ear, good Christian men!
The lay is worth a hearing:
We tell how grief hath ended woe,
And fear hath finished fearing:
And pain that lasted for a day
Hath brought eternal cheering!
2 Was ever battle won like this—
Where He that lost was gaining:
And He that fell was triumphing,
And He that died was reigning:
And He that held the reed of scorn,
A scepter was obtaining?
3 The winner then had such a foil
As crushed him down for ever:
The wise was taken in his craft,
The strong in his endeavor:
And He, the slain, was victor still,
And he that slew Him, never!
4 Give ear, give ear, good Christian men!
The riddle is expounded:
From north to south, from east to west,
Its meaning shall be sounded:
On Easter Day was fought the fight,
Whereon the crown is founded!
Source: The Cyber Hymnal #16557
John M. Neale's life is a study in contrasts: born into an evangelical home, he had sympathies toward Rome; in perpetual ill health, he was incredibly productive; of scholarly temperament, he devoted much time to improving social conditions in his area; often ignored or despised by his contemporaries, he is lauded today for his contributions to the church and hymnody. Neale's gifts came to expression early–he won the Seatonian prize for religious poetry eleven times while a student at Trinity College, Cambridge, England. He was ordained in the Church of England in 1842, but ill health and his strong support of the Oxford Movement kept him from ordinary parish ministry. So Neale spent the years between 1846 and 1866 as a warden of Sackvi… Go to person page >
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