And as we shiver slightly An early summer morn When blushing heavens brightly Announce a day new-born, So moves the soul immortal With calmness through death's portal That through its final strife Beholds the Light of Life. He could therefore exclaim: Christian! what a morn of splendor Full reward for every fear, When the ransomed host shall render Praises to its Savior dear, Shall in heaven's hall of glory Tell salvation's wondrous story, And with the angelic throng Sing the Lamb's eternal song. ---------- [10]Another translation: "Take away the signs of mourning" by P. C. Paulsen in "Hymnal for Church and Home". Chapter Sixteen Grundtvig's Later Years Grundtvig's later years present a striking contrast to the years of his earlier manhood. The lonely Defender of the Bible became a respected sage and the acknowledged leader of a fast growing religious and folk movement, both in Denmark and the other Scandinavian countries. His long years of continuous struggles were followed by years of fruitful work and an extensive growth of his religious and educational ideals until he was generally recognized as one of the most vital spiritual leaders of Scandinavia. The first break in the wall of isolation that surrounded him came with an invitation from a group of students to "the excellent historian, N. F. S. Grundtvig, who has never asked for a reward but only for a chance to do good," to deliver a series of historical lectures at Borch's Collegium in Copenhagen. These lectures--seventy-one in all--were delivered before packed audiences during the summer and fall of 1838, and were so enthusiastically received that the students, on the evening of the concluding lecture, arranged a splendid banquet for the speaker, at which one of them sang: Yes, through years of lonely struggle Did you bravely fight, Bearing scorn without complaining Till your hair turned white. During his most lonely years Grundtvig once comforted himself with the words of a Greek sage: "Speak to the people of yesterday, and you will be heard by the people of tomorrow." Thus it was, no doubt, a great satisfaction to him that the first public honor bestowed upon him should be accorded him by his nation's youth.