Hail the Sun of Righteousness!

In the stillness of the twilight,

earth in earnest lay in wait

for the Master in her bosom

with a great stone at His gate

Sharon scarlet, hyssop purple,

morning-glory decked in blue

stemmed a quiver of excitement

that their King should death undo

palm trees swayed along the Jordan,

cedars bristled on the height,

cypress limbs caressed the mountains

ere the dawning of the Light

from the songbirds of the heavens

—joyous harmonies above—

rang the heraldry of silver swans

and cooed the turtle dove

a chill among the dewdrops

made the proud ox toss his crown,

as the lion shook his august mane

at glory all around

rippling fields of amber barley,

tendrilled vineyards, garbed in green,

modest groves of olive saplings

reached for Dayspring’s gentle beam

almond blossoms, fair and lovely,

wielded misty morning's glare,

as the arum lily’s spathe

distilled its perfume in the air

lavish verdure and vermillion

wreathed the pomegranate’s boughs,

as the aureate forsythia’s ardor

daylight sought to rouse

all at once, light clambered up

along earth’s parapeted edge,

drenching all about with wonder,

every hillock, heath, and hedge

death had lost its long dominion

for the veil had been undone:

all the earth, in myriad voices

ringing, hailed the risen Son!

---

every element of flora and fauna

points either to the structure,

function & adornment of the temple,

to the glory of resurrection morning,

or to both:

the Rose of Sharon in Song 2:1,

the hyssop plant for sprinkling the blood of sacrifice,

the glory of the morning that Christ arose,

the purple, blue, and scarlet yarns of the High Priest's ephod,

the palm trees carved on the temple walls,

the cedar and cypress woods used for its walls and floor,

the silver trumpets that summoned the people,

the turtle doves of the poor man's offering,

the oxen and lions carved on the temple walls,

the grain, the wine, and the oil for temple offerings,

the almond calyx-shaped oil cup that crowned each lampstand branch,

the column capitals and the molten sea shaped like lilies,

the arum lily, genus of the peace lily,

the pomegranates and golden bells on the hem of the High Priest's robe,

the veil of the temple torn in two at the moment of Christ's death,

the rising of the Son of God, the Sun of righteousness!

titled from "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing"