Daughter of Sion, lift thine eyes and see
The Gentiles bow before thy God and thee:
From east will come thy Sons to honour thee;
And sea-girt isles a-west shall call on thee;
With joy and singing men will draw to thee.
Gold and frankincense, lo, they offer thee;
Spikenard and myrrh and ointments are for thee:
The Dawn, the Day-break art thou; comes from thee
The Sun when He ariseth; Kings shall be
Present at His awaking, round thy knee.
Mother of God, earth's Crown of Majesty:
Jerusalem the Golden, blest is he
Who may explain this Heaven-born Mystery:
Lo, as I kneel, in contemplating thee
I drink the living draught thou reachest me.
Mother of Life, the lifeless turn to thee;
Mother of Health, a Healer thou shalt be;
A multitude of camels draw to thee,
Bearing the riches of the western sea:
With joy and singing, lo, men flow to thee.
Mother of dread Compassion, chosen to be
The Victim-bearer for Humanity:
Myrrh droppeth from thy fingers; thou wilt be
The Priestess at the Sacrifice, when He,
The World's Oblation, hangs upon the Tree.
O Vision in that hour of ecstasy,
The whole sad world is waiting upon thee:
They come from far to greet the Majesty
New-born upon thy lap; and thou wilt be
Their Mother and their Queen. All praise to thee.
Forecast of that loved Church that is to be,
That has been ever - now new-formed in thee;
Jerusalem in Mary reigns: and see,
The Mother and the Priestess silently
Her Babe in expiation gives, for thee.
- text taken from Mary: The Perfect Woman, by Emily Mary Shapcote