On earth was darkness spread,

One boundless night;

“Let there be light,” God said,—

And there was light!

There hung a deeper gloom

O’er quick and dead,

But Jesus burst the tomb,

And darkness fled.

God by His word arrayed

Darkness with light;

God by His Son displayed

Day without night.

For thee, O man, arose

Creation’s ray;

For thee, too, brighter glows

Salvation’s day.

The beams first poured on earth

For mortals shone;

The light of later birth

Immortals own.