O how blest are ye whose toils are ended

O how blest are ye whose toils are ended!
Who, through death, have unto God ascended!
Ye have arisen
From the cares which keep us still in prison.

Christ has wiped away your tears forever;
Ye have that for which we still endeavor.
To you are chanted
Songs that ne’er to moral ears were granted.

Ah! who would then not depart with gladness,
To inherit heaven for earthly sadness?
Who here would languish
Longer in bewailing and in anguish?

Come, O Christ, and loose the chains that bind us!
Lead us forth, and cast this world behind us!
With Thee, th’ Anointed,
Finds the soul its joy and rest appointed.
     Simon Dach  Tr Henry Wadsworth Longfellow