Let Us Rise in Early Morning

Let us rise in early morning,
And, instead of ointments, bring
Hymns of praises to our Master,
And His Resurrection sing:
We shall see the Sun of Justice
Ris’n with healing on His wing,
Ris’n with healing on His wing.

Thy unbounded loving-kindness,
They that groaned in Hades’ chain,
Prisoners, from afar beholding,
Hasten to the light again
And to that eternal Pascha
Wove the dance and raised the strain,
Wove the dance and raised the strain.

Go ye forth, His saints, to meet Him!
Go with lamps in every hand!
From the sepulcher He riseth:
Ready for the Bridegroom stand:
And the Pascha of salvation
Hail, with His triumphant band,
Hail, with His triumphant band.

Author: John Mason Neale

Year: 1862

This is a translation by John Mason Neale of the original Greek Canon for Easter by St. John of Damascus (c. 675–749). Neale's English version first appeared in his Hymns of the Eastern Church (1862). The text is not an original composition but a rendering of the traditional Byzantine hymn.