VIII.
“Go quickly and tell His disciples that He is risen.”
Tell all the world the Lord is risen—
The Easter message, ever new;
The grave is but a ruined prison,—
Invincible, the Life breaks through.
Earth cannot long ensepulchre
In her dark depths the tiniest seed;
When life begins to throb and stir,
The bands of death are weak indeed.
No clods its upward course deter,
Calmly it makes its path to-day;
One germ of life is mightier
Than a whole universe of clay.
Yet not one leaf-blade ever stirred,
Bursting earth's wintry dungeons dim,
But lived at His creative word,
Responsive to the life in Him.
Since, then, the life that He bestows
Thus triumphs over death and earth;
What power of earth or death can close
The Fountain whence all life has birth?
And, as the least up-springing grain
Breathes still the resurrection song,
That light the victory shall gain,
That death is weak, and life is strong;
So, with immortal vigour rife,
The lowliest life that faith has freed
Bears witness still that Christ is life,
And that the Life is risen indeed.
