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Easter Day.
“If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above.”
—Epistle for the Day.
Risen
with Christ!”
—oh, radiant thought
That well may brighten through some angelbreast;
For, were its perfect influence wrought,
The World would realise sabbatic rest
From sin and guile, and all we find
To mar the halcyon of the mind.
That well may brighten through some angelbreast;
For, were its perfect influence wrought,
The World would realise sabbatic rest
From sin and guile, and all we find
To mar the halcyon of the mind.
When choral winds of April chant
And green Earth hymns a resurrection-song,
While gently o'er each new-born plant
Steal, like seraphic plumes, soft airs along,
Till balm and freshness sweetly blend
And through the soul their magic send,—
And green Earth hymns a resurrection-song,
While gently o'er each new-born plant
Steal, like seraphic plumes, soft airs along,
Till balm and freshness sweetly blend
And through the soul their magic send,—
Say, is not each a Type which tells
Some moral lesson to each musing heart,
Where faith the Body's future spells
By language deeper than our lips impart—
In forms of Matter finding lore,
By saints in silence ponder'd o'er?
Some moral lesson to each musing heart,
Where faith the Body's future spells
By language deeper than our lips impart—
In forms of Matter finding lore,
By saints in silence ponder'd o'er?
From Christ, man's Easter was begun,
In Whose ascension all the saints ascend;
Incorp'rate with Th' Incarnate Son,
They with Himself in vital union blend,
And, by that Sacrament are made,
The mystic Bride for whom He pray'd.
In Whose ascension all the saints ascend;
Incorp'rate with Th' Incarnate Son,
They with Himself in vital union blend,
And, by that Sacrament are made,
The mystic Bride for whom He pray'd.
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And from the Fontal wave there flows
A soaring virtue of celestial power,
Which in the heart regen'rate glows
And opens Heaven on each adoring hour,—
Revealing to the inner Man
All that on earth such vision can.
A soaring virtue of celestial power,
Which in the heart regen'rate glows
And opens Heaven on each adoring hour,—
Revealing to the inner Man
All that on earth such vision can.
Hence, is not Christ, as risen Lord,
By Pattern, Principle, and Power, our own?
While, in the heaven of His true word,
All saints become the sharers of His throne
Who, when He soar'd to Deity,
Said, “Where I am, my saints shall be.”
By Pattern, Principle, and Power, our own?
While, in the heaven of His true word,
All saints become the sharers of His throne
Who, when He soar'd to Deity,
Said, “Where I am, my saints shall be.”
O Privilege, beyond compare!
Ideal utmost of almighty Grace,
The paradise besought in prayer,
The last perfection of our pardon'd race,—
In heaven to have the risen heart
With Christ and Angels, taking part!
Ideal utmost of almighty Grace,
The paradise besought in prayer,
The last perfection of our pardon'd race,—
In heaven to have the risen heart
With Christ and Angels, taking part!
There, is the City pure of gold,
Whose streets are jasper, gemm'd with gates of pearl,
More bright than poet-dreams behold;
Where neither sin, nor woe, nor passion's whirl,
Infect with their defiling stain
The Bowers where peace and pureness reign.
Whose streets are jasper, gemm'd with gates of pearl,
More bright than poet-dreams behold;
Where neither sin, nor woe, nor passion's whirl,
Infect with their defiling stain
The Bowers where peace and pureness reign.
Such dwelling-place of Bliss Divine,
The central Home of sanctity and calm,
Within whose depths all powers combine
To heal the wounded heart with holy balm—
Why is it, that yon World above
So little wins the soul to love?
The central Home of sanctity and calm,
Within whose depths all powers combine
To heal the wounded heart with holy balm—
Why is it, that yon World above
So little wins the soul to love?
Alas! too oft, like earth-worms, we
Cling to coarse joys, by mean attraction bound,—
In time absorb eternity,
And with the Belials of base earth are found,
When, true to heaven and Him, we ought
Soar Christ-ward, on ascending thought.
Cling to coarse joys, by mean attraction bound,—
In time absorb eternity,
And with the Belials of base earth are found,
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Soar Christ-ward, on ascending thought.
We barter privilege for sin,
Are moral suicides, through sensual bliss;
O'ercloud the dawning heaven within,
And lose our glory for a World like this—
A World which crucified her God
When once this vale of woe He trod!
Are moral suicides, through sensual bliss;
O'ercloud the dawning heaven within,
And lose our glory for a World like this—
A World which crucified her God
When once this vale of woe He trod!
Yet, is it but a mocking scene,
A gilded mis'ry graced with mantling smiles,
Where ulcerated hearts, I ween,
Rankle in secret, under gayest wiles,
And the loud laugh too plainly tells
What hollowness within them dwells.
A gilded mis'ry graced with mantling smiles,
Where ulcerated hearts, I ween,
Rankle in secret, under gayest wiles,
And the loud laugh too plainly tells
What hollowness within them dwells.
“Risen with Christ!” if words have wings,
Ascended Lord, on these thy saints may soar,
And, where the hallelujah rings,
Of Thine own Chorus, Thee in light adore;
And, long ere time and earth depart,
Soar into heaven, by hope and heart.
Ascended Lord, on these thy saints may soar,
And, where the hallelujah rings,
Of Thine own Chorus, Thee in light adore;
And, long ere time and earth depart,
Soar into heaven, by hope and heart.
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