Arise! Awake! Ascend!

O spirit, freed from earth,
Rejoice thy work is done!
The weary world’s beneath thy feet,
Thou brighter than the sun.

Arise, put on the robes
That the redeemed win;
Now sorrow has no part in thee,
Thou sanctified within!

Awake, and breathe the air
Of the celestial clime!
Awake to Love which knows no change,
Thou who hast done with Time!

Awake, lift up thine eyes!
See, all heaven’s host appears!
And be thou glad exceedingly, —
Thou who hast done with tears.

Ascend! thou art not now
With those of mortal birth;
The living God hath touched thy lips,
Thou who hast done with earth!

—Mrs. Howitt, 1860