 | Easter gleams |  |
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“The Lord is Risen Indeed.”
If in this world-time there has been
One who at death's door entered in,
And, passing that dread mystery through,
Came out again to human view,—
His very self, no dream, no ghost
Of that for which we loved him most;
One whom with heart and soul we knew,
One unto whom our whole life drew
For vigor and uplift,—why, then
We too may be immortal men!
One who at death's door entered in,
And, passing that dread mystery through,
Came out again to human view,—
His very self, no dream, no ghost
Of that for which we loved him most;
One whom with heart and soul we knew,
One unto whom our whole life drew
For vigor and uplift,—why, then
We too may be immortal men!
And if at last, absorbed in light,
His form receded from our sight
To grow within our souls more fair,
A spiritual Presence there,
Whereby we knew ourselves allied
To Life upon its unseen side,—
Then would a new, undying ray
Illumine every common day;
Earth would repeat our heart's glad song,
“Unto our friend we still belong.”
His form receded from our sight
To grow within our souls more fair,
A spiritual Presence there,
Whereby we knew ourselves allied
To Life upon its unseen side,—
Then would a new, undying ray
Illumine every common day;
Earth would repeat our heart's glad song,
“Unto our friend we still belong.”
And if the meaning of some word
He spoke to us, came back and stirred
High thoughts we knew not it contained
While he in mortal shape remained;
Kindling within us such a fire
Of aspiration and desire
For love and truth and righteousness
As breath would fail us to express;
Surer than aught our eyes could see,
The blessed certainty would be,
Knitting more closely heart to heart,—
“Death has in him we loved no part;
No other voice could stir us thus;
He lives, and still he speaks to us!”
He spoke to us, came back and stirred
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While he in mortal shape remained;
Kindling within us such a fire
Of aspiration and desire
For love and truth and righteousness
As breath would fail us to express;
Surer than aught our eyes could see,
The blessed certainty would be,
Knitting more closely heart to heart,—
“Death has in him we loved no part;
No other voice could stir us thus;
He lives, and still he speaks to us!”
One such there has been: Peter, John,
His lowly friends, both gazed upon
The radiance of His face, arisen
Forever from the grave's cold prison.
They talked with Him, the very same
Who died upon that cross of shame
Beneath which now we rest,—the Tree
Of Life and Immortality.
His lowly friends, both gazed upon
The radiance of His face, arisen
Forever from the grave's cold prison.
They talked with Him, the very same
Who died upon that cross of shame
Beneath which now we rest,—the Tree
Of Life and Immortality.
They knew their Master when He passed
Out of their mortal sight at last:
His star that paled, re-born a sun,
Was morning in them, heaven begun!
They bore the message of His life
Into the world's unrest and strife,
And now humanity's calm sea
Mirrors His image. “It is He
In whom we live, no more to die!”
Soul unto soul makes glad reply.
And never now shall death divide
Friends from the friends in Him allied;
Love has immortal words to read
To love,—“The Lord is risen indeed.”
Out of their mortal sight at last:
His star that paled, re-born a sun,
Was morning in them, heaven begun!
They bore the message of His life
Into the world's unrest and strife,
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Mirrors His image. “It is He
In whom we live, no more to die!”
Soul unto soul makes glad reply.
And never now shall death divide
Friends from the friends in Him allied;
Love has immortal words to read
To love,—“The Lord is risen indeed.”
| Easter gleams | |