Now the Month of May

HAPPY CINCO DE MAYO!

Cold December's winds were stilled
In the month of snowing.
As the world fell dark one night,
Springtime's Hope was growing;
Then one rose-tree blossomed new,
One sweet Flower on it grew.
On the tree once bare,
Grew the Rose so fair,
Ah, the Rose, ah, the Rose,
Ah the Rose tree blooming,
Sweet the air perfuming.

When the darkness fell that night,
Bringing sweet reposing,
All the land was hid from sight,
Sleep our eyes was closing.
Suddenly, there came a gleam
From the sky, the wondrous beam
Of a heav'nly star,
Giving light afar;
Ah, the star, ah, the star,
Ah, the star-beam glowing,
Brightness ever growing.

Now the month of May was here,
Filled with God's own radiance;
Now the purest Lily bloomed,
Flow'r of sweeted fragrance.
To the people far and near
Came a breath of heav'nly cheer;
O, the incense rare
Of the Lily there!
Ah, the scent, ah, the scent
Of the Lily blooming,
All the air perfuming!

Alternate version
from The United Methodist Hymnal #233:

Cold December flies away
At the rose-red splendor.
April's crowning glory breaks
While the whole world wonders
At the holy unseen pow'r
Of the tree which bears the flow'r.
On the blessed tree
Blooms the reddest flow'r.
On the tree blooms the rose
Here in love's own garden,
Full and strong in glory.

In the hopeless time of sin
Shadows deep had fallen.
All the world lay under death.
Eyes were closed in sleeping.
But, when all seemed lost in night,
Came the sun whose golden light
Brings unending joy,
Brings the endless joy
Of our hope, highest hope,
Of our hope's bright dawning,
Son beloved of heaven.

Now the bud has come to bloom,
And the world awakens.
In the lily's purest flow'r
Dwells a wondrous fragrance.
And it spreads to all the earth
From the moment of its birth;
And its beauty lives.
In the flow'r it lives,
In the flow'r, and it spreads
In its heav'nly brightness,
Sweet perfume delightful.