Poems (King)/Easter Morning
For works with similar titles, see Easter Morning.
Easter Morning
GRAY bent the sky above the rock-ribbed tomb
That clasped the Lord-Christ to its stony heart;
And far the star of morning glimmered faint,
Its fading beauty of the scene a part.
That clasped the Lord-Christ to its stony heart;
And far the star of morning glimmered faint,
Its fading beauty of the scene a part.
And now that black-plumed night on noiseless wing
Adown the west at day-dawn far has fled,
Behold where Roman soldiers, sullen, keep
Reluctant bivouac round the Mighty Dead.
Adown the west at day-dawn far has fled,
Behold where Roman soldiers, sullen, keep
Reluctant bivouac round the Mighty Dead.
'Tis day; earth trembles and the soldiers fly;
For see! an angel clad in woven light
Unbars the ponderous tomb, now tenantless,
For Christ, the Lord, hath risen in His might.
For see! an angel clad in woven light
Unbars the ponderous tomb, now tenantless,
For Christ, the Lord, hath risen in His might.
Be glad, O sun! O rolling, starry worlds,
Sing blithe as in the first great morn of time!
Earth laugh with flowers, ye birds spill music down,
Old ocean, chant your symphony sublime!
Sing blithe as in the first great morn of time!
Earth laugh with flowers, ye birds spill music down,
Old ocean, chant your symphony sublime!
O heart of man, to rapture set thy beats,
And love, upsoar on song's melodious breath;
From earth's dark bosom springs the Flower of Life,—
Thy risen God hath snapt the bonds of death!
And love, upsoar on song's melodious breath;
From earth's dark bosom springs the Flower of Life,—
Thy risen God hath snapt the bonds of death!