SEXAGESIMA.
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Cursed is the ground for thy sake.” Yet earth was very good in days of old,And earth is lovely still:Still for the sacred flock she spreads the fold,For Sion rears the hill. Mother she is, and cradle of our race,A depth where treasures lie,The broad foundation of a holy place,Man’s step to scale the sky. She spreads the harvest-field which Angels reap,And lo! the crop is white;She spreads God’s Acre where the happy sleepAll night that is not night. Earth may not pass till heaven shall pass away,Nor heaven may be renewedExcept with earth: and once more in that dayEarth shall be very good.
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