Page:The Mediaeval Mind Vol 2.djvu/100

88 "Let the old leaven be purged away that a new resurrection may be celebrated purely. This is the day of our hope; wonderful is the power of this day by the testimony of the law. "This day despoiled Egypt, and liberated the Hebrews from the fiery furnace; for them in wretched straits the work of servitude was mud and brick and straw.

"Now as praise of divine virtue, of triumph, of salvation, let the voice break free! This is the day which the Lord made, the day ending our grief, the day bringing salvation.

"The Law is the shadow of things to come, Christ the goal of promises, who completes all. Christ's blood blunts the sword the guardians removed.

"The Boy, type of our laughter, in whose stead the ram was slain, seals life's joy. Joseph issues from the pit; Christ returns above after death's punishment

"This serpent devours the serpents of Pharaoh secure from the serpent's spite. Whom the fire wounded, them the brazen serpent's presence freed.

"The hook and ring of Christ pierce the dragon's jaw; the sucking child puts his hand into the cockatrice's den, and the old tenant of the world flees affrighted.

"The mockers of Elisha ascending the house of God, feel the bald-head's wrath; David, feigning madness, the goat cast forth, and the sparrow escape.

"With a jaw-bone Samson slays a thousand and spurns the marriage of his tribe. Samson bursts the bars of Gaza, and, carrying its gates, scales the mountain's crest.