Classic Poem

White Festival of Easter,
Triumphant day of days,
The light of hope enkindling
Beside our lifeless ways,

'Tis right that regal lilies
About thy form should fling
The richest incense-odours
Mixed by the magic spring;

For thou hast all the beauty
Born of unsightly clay,
In nature's garden lavished
Since Time began her sway,

And thou hast all the glory,
In face and voice and mien,
Of every moral conquest
Man's struggling life has seen,

And thou hast all the promise
Of golden years to come,
When earth's imperfect prattle
And clamorous cry are dumb,

When Truth's uncertain glimmer
Clear light has come to be,
And strong, sweet tides of reason
Have swept humanity.

White Festival of Easter,
Thou sham'st the earth-born dream
That darkness is eternal
And pain and loss supreme,

A better faith thou bearest,
Belief from heaven that springs,
That death is only progress,
And life the goal of things.

Thy tale of resurrection
Is but the sacred seal
Affixed to nature's promise
Of endless future weal,

And we who oft despairing,
Long Lenten days have wept,
With songs of satisfaction
This lofty faith accept,

And bid thy strong, pure sceptre,
Triumphant Queen of days,
White Festival of Easter,
Rule all our wandering ways.