629
O Happy Band of Pilgrims
Verse 1
O happy band of pilgrims,
If onward ye will tread
With Jesus as your fellow,
To Jesus as your Head!
If onward ye will tread
With Jesus as your fellow,
To Jesus as your Head!
Verse 2
O happy if ye labor
As Jesus did for men;
O happy if ye hunger
As Jesus hungered then!
As Jesus did for men;
O happy if ye hunger
As Jesus hungered then!
Verse 3
The trials that beset you,
The sorrows ye endure,
The manifold temptations
That death alone can cure,
The sorrows ye endure,
The manifold temptations
That death alone can cure,
Verse 4
What are they but His jewels
Of right celestial worth?
What are they but the ladder
Set up to heaven on earth?
Of right celestial worth?
What are they but the ladder
Set up to heaven on earth?
Verse 5
O happy band of pilgrims,
Look upward to the skies,
Where such a light affliction
Shall win you such a prize!
Look upward to the skies,
Where such a light affliction
Shall win you such a prize!
Milton's text emphasizes the soul's eager preparation for resurrection and eternal communion with God.