Easter Poems

Table of Contents

1. Good Friday

   by Christina Rossetti

   
   

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   Am I a stone and not a sheep
   That I can stand, O Christ, beneath Thy Cross,
   To number drop by drop Thy Blood's slow loss,
   And yet not weep?
   

   Not so those women loved
   Who with exceeding grief lamented Thee;
   Not so fallen Peter weeping bitterly;
   Not so the thief was moved;
   

   Not so the Sun and Moon
   Which hid their faces in a starless sky,
   A horror of great darkness at broad noon,—
   I, only I.
   

   Yet give not o'er,
   But seek Thy sheep, true Shepherd of the flock;
   Greater than Moses, turn and look once more
   And smite a rock.
   

2. Easter Heralds

   by Amos Russel Wells

   
   

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   Who came from the tomb
   When Jesus came,
   To scatter our gloom
   With his living name?
   'Twas the angel Hope,
   Whose sunbeams go
   To the farthest scope
   Of our darkest woe.
   Hope came from the tomb
   When the Saviour came.
   

   Who came from the tomb
   When Jesus came,
   In the bursting bloom
   Of a world aflame?
   It was Joy, the angel,
   Who sang and sang
   Till the glad evangel
   Through the wide world rang.
   Joy came from the tomb
   When the Saviour came.
   

   Who came from the tomb
   When Jesus came
   From the conquered doom
   Of our sin and shame?
   It was Love, supreme
   Of the angel host,
   And her graces gleam
   Where we need them most.
   Love came from the tomb
   When the Saviour came.
   

3. East and Easter

   by Amos Russel Wells

   
   

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   Out of the East the royal Sun,
   Sign of a glad new day begun,
   Out of the East, to heal and bless,
   Rises the Sun of Righteousness:
   Out of the East is Easter.
   

   Out of the East the Stars arise,
   Myriad suns of other skies;
   So is Judaea's Saviour found
   Lord of all races the Earth around:
   Out of the East is Easter.
   

   Out of the East the Wise Men came,
   Led by the wondrous, heavenly flame,
   Now the King of their starry lore
   Rises to reign forever more:
   Out of the East is Easter.
   

   Out of the East the warmth and power,
   Light and love for the living hour,
   Joy unceasing and full and free,
   Meant for the lowliest, even me:
   Out of the East is Easter.
   

4. In the Garden

   by Amos Russel Wells

   
   

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   I think that still, as Easter morn dawns nigh,
   Damascus Gate, and all the wall thereby,
   Must breathe a trembling and expectant sigh

   I think the garden places and the street
   Passed by the Saviour's resurrection feet
   Still quiver at the memory high and sweet.

   I think the very pebbles glittering bare
   And all the flowers in the garden fair,
   Are thrilled as if the Saviour still were there.
   

   And who will say He does not there return,
   Since in our own glad hearts that throb and burn
   His radiant Easter presence we discern?

5. Rise!

   by Amos Russel Wells

   
   

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   Rise from thoughts of shame and sin,
   From passions fierce that burn within;
   Rise! a better life begin,
   All free from hate and scorning.
   Rise! from weakness into might;
   Rise! from wrong to Joyous right;
   Rise! from darkness to the light
   Of Easter in the morning.
   

   Rise, for royal heralds call.
   Angel songs that soar and fall,
   Golden glories over all,
   Earth and skies adorning.
   Rise, for inner voices plead;
   Rise from lower thought and deed,
   Follow where the angels lead
   On Easter in the morning.
   

   Rise! for soon you may not rise;
   Soul unheeding dwarfs and dies;
   Not for aye may one be wise;
   For To-day the warning!
   Lo! the range of endless years,
   Other lives and other spheres,
   Your eternity appears
   At Easter in the morning.
   

6. The Easter Test

   by Amos Russel Wells

   
   

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   If I had seen the Master on that morning
   All glorious with resurrection light,
   Beyond the might of men and evil scorning,
   How would my soul have met the splendid sight?
   

   Would I have hastened eager to adore Him,
   My spirit caught in rapture strangely sweet?
   Would I have run to lay my heart hefore Him?
   Would I have fallen trembling at his feet?
   

   Or would a sudden fear have held me rigid,
   And would my sins have heen a barrier high,
   And would my doubts have bound me stiff and frigid
   In sullen coldness while the Lord passed by?
   

   I need not ask, for still my Lord comes near me,
   Life evermore victorious from the grave;
   And still he calls, "O brother do not fear me!"
   And still his eager hands are stretched to save.
   

   All days are Easter days and bring the testing
   Of lower calls and summons from above,
   O haste, my soul, unhurried and unresting,
   To meet the Lord of and claim His love.
   

7. The Crucified of Galilee

   by Helen M. Johnson

   
   

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   Methought I stood, at close of day,
   Where soft the balmy breezes play,
   And bright beneath the Eastern skies
   The sacred hills of Canaan rise,
   And saw him on the shameful tree,—
   The Crucified of Galilee!
   

   I heard the mocking throng deride
   The anguish of the Crucified;
   I saw the brilliant sun grow dim;
   I heard creation shriek for him;
   I saw him die, and die for me,—
   The Crucified of Galilee!
   

   And then I saw the veil upraised
   From the eternal world, and gazed
   Upon the scene in deep surprise;
   One form alone could fix my eyes;
   I knew him, yes, indeed 'twas he,—
   The Crucified of Galilee!
   

   And though upon his lovely brow
   A beam of glory rested now;
   Though angels praised his holy name;
   Yet still I knew he was the same
   Who hung upon the shameful tree,—
   The Crucified of Galilee!
   

   I knew him by his tender air;
   I knew him by the fervent prayer
   He breathed for those for whom he died;
   I knew him by his wounded side;
   By these I knew that it was he,—
   The Crucified of Galilee!
   

   I knew him by the loving smile
   With which he welcomed sinners vile;
   I knew him, for he took a share
   In all his children's griefs and care;
   I knew him by his love for me,—
   The Crucified of Galilee!
   

   The vision faded from afar;
   But still 't is memory's guiding star,
   To cheer the night and point a way
   Unto an everlasting day,
   When I, with unveiled eyes, shall see
   The Crucified of Galilee!
   

8. On Looking at a Picture of the Crucifixion

   by E. N. S.

   
   

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   Turn from the world mine eyes and see
   This mournful sight of Calvary;
   See Him expiring on the cross,
   The Son of God! to ransom us.
   

   Behold His feet, His hands, how torn!
   His sacred temples pierced with thorns:
   An emblem of the curse He bore
   For us, our lost estate t' restore.
   

   "'Tis finished!" the Redeemer cried,
   Then bow'd His sacred head and died;
   The price is paid, the prisoners freed,
   And death and hell are captive led.
   

   Then from the cross He's taken down,
   Securely laid within the tomb;
   From whence He rose, and lives on high,
   To plead for us eternally.
   

9. The Perfect Festival

   by Anonymous

   
   

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   Out of mystery and gloom,
   Out of sorrow and the tomb,
   Comes a carol brave and gay,
   Comes the breaking of the day.

   Christmas is a time of cheer
   In the winter of the year,
   But its presents often wear
   Quite a mercenary air.

   Patriotic banners fly
   On the fourth day of July,
   But the essence of its joys
   Lies in crude, barbaric noise.

   Often quaint Thanksgiving finds
   Discontented, anxious minds,--
   Less a festival of praise
   Than the greediest of days.

   Ah, but Easter, purely born
   Of the lily and the thorn,
   With no touch of base alloy,
   You are joy and only joy!

10. 'T was a long parting, but the time

    by Emily Dickinson

    
    

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    'T was a long parting, but the time
    For interview had come;
    Before the judgment-seat of God,
    The last and second time

    These fleshless lovers met,
    A heaven in a gaze,
    A heaven of heavens, the privilege
    Of one another's eyes.

    No lifetime set on them,
    Apparelled as the new
    Unborn, except they had beheld,
    Born everlasting now.

    Was bridal e'er like this?
    A paradise, the host,
    And cherubim and seraphim
    The most familiar guest.

11. An Easter Hymn

    by John Charles McNeill

    
    

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    The Sun has come again and fed
    The lily's lamp with light,
    And raised from dust a rose, rich red,
    And a little star-flower, white;
    He also guards the Pleiades
    And holds his planets true:
    But we—we know not which of these
    The easier task to do.
    

    But, since from heaven he stoops to breathe
    A flower to balmy air,
    Surely our lives are not beneath
    The kindness of his care;
    And, as he guides the blade that gropes
    Up from the barren sod,
    So, from the ashes of our hopes,
    Will beauty grow toward God.
    

    Whate'er thy name, O Soul of Life,—
    We know but that thou art,—
    Thou seest, through all our waste of strife,
    One groping human heart,
    Weary of words and broken sight,
    But moved with deep accord
    To worship where thy lilies light
    The altar of its Lord.
    

12. Easter Gladness

    by Ruby Archer

    Hail, Easter, font of soul-refreshing springs!
    Now Nature's heart is softened by warm rains,
    And spring-born joys are beating in her veins.
    Creation all one thrilling anthem rings.
    The balmy winds, like rush of angels' wings,
    Are wafting snow-dreams from awaking lanes,
    And bearing spirit to the waiting plains,
    While drifting, rain-sweet clouds thy dawning brings.
    Pure, lovely lilies, sacred to the day,
    With bended heads are standing, whitely dressed,
    Like souls of children whom in life He blessed;
    And in their incense-homage lowly say,
    "Forget not all His mercies! Lift thy voice
    And sing! The Lord is risen! Earth, Heaven, rejoice!"
    

13. An Easter Carol

    by Christina Rossetti

    Spring bursts to-day,
    For Christ is risen and all the earth's at play.
    

    Flash forth, thou Sun,
    The rain is over and gone, its work is done.
    

    Winter is past,
    Sweet Spring is come at last, is come at last.
    

    Bud, Fig and Vine,
    Bud, Olive, fat with fruit and oil and wine.
    

    Break forth this morn
    In roses, thou but yesterday a Thorn.
    

    Uplift thy head,
    O pure white Lily through the Winter dead.
    

    Beside your dams
    Leap and rejoice, you merry-making Lambs.
    

    All Herds and Flocks
    Rejoice, all Beasts of thickets and of rocks.
    

    Sing, Creatures, sing,
    Angels and Men and Birds and everything.
    

    All notes of Doves
    Fill all our world: this is the time of loves.
    

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