Lo! The Desert-Depths Are Stirr'd

For Advent, for St. John the Baptist

Words: Jordanis oras prævia, Charles Coffin, Paris Breviary (1676-1749), 1736
Translated by W. J. Blew

Compare: On Jordan's Bank The Baptist's Cry - Version 1
On Jordan's Banks, The Herald's Cry - Version 2
On Jordan's Bank, The Baptist's Cry - Version 3
On Jordan's Bank The Baptist's Cry - Chandler and
Behold! The Baptist's Warning Sound

Source: George Radcliffe Woodward, ed, Songs of Syon (London: Schott & Co., Third Edition, 1908), # 10

1. Lo! the desert-depths are stirr’d,
And the reeds of Jordan quiver;
At the Baptist’s herald-word
Shake the shores of that old river. Alleluya.

2. Nearer comes the preacher’s cry,
Deeper sounds his voice and deeper,
Telling that the Christ is nigh,
In a tone to rouse the sleeper. Alleluya.

3. By their Maker’s coming feet
Moved, the earth, the air, the ocean
Joyously his Advent greet
With a strangely yearning motion. Alleluya.

4. Cleanse the heart; a highway strew
For the Godhead hither faring;
Cleanse the home-—a dwelling due
To the mighty guest preparing. Alleluya.

5. Jesu, thou our solace art,
Thou our strength and our salvation;
Wither’d grass, from thee apart,
Fades away man’s feeble nation. Alleluya.

6. Lift the lost with hand of health,
Whom the plague is fast consuming:
Lift the veil; in all its wealth
Lo! the beauteous world is blooming. Alleluya.

7. Thou, who comest man to free,
Son, be thine all praise for ever:
Thine with Sire and Spirit be
Laud through ages ending never. Alleluya, Amen.

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