Easter, 1916
I have met them at close of day
Coming with vivid faces
From counter or desk among grey
Eighteenth-century houses.
I have passed with a nod of the head
Or polite meaningless words,
Or have lingered awhile and said
Polite meaningless words,
And thought before I had done
Of a mocking tale or a gibe
To please a companion
Around the fire at the club,
Being certain that they and I
But lived where motley is worn:
All changed, changed utterly:
A terrible beauty is born.
That woman's days were spent
In ignorant good-will,
Her nights in argument
Until her voice grew shrill.
What voice more sweet than hers
When, young and beautiful,
She rode to harriers?
This man had kept a school
And rode our winged horse;
This other his helper and friend
Was coming into his force;
He might have won fame in the end,
So sensitive his nature seemed,
So daring and sweet his thought.
This other man I had dreamed
A drunken, vainglorious lout.
He had done most bitter wrong
To some who are near my heart,
Yet I number him in the song;
He, too, has resigned his part
In the casual comedy;
He, too, has been changed in his turn,
Transformed utterly:
A terrible beauty is born.
Hearts with one purpose alone
Through summer and winter seem
Enchanted to a stone
To trouble the living stream.
The horse that comes from the road.
The rider, the birds that range
From cloud to tumbling cloud,
Minute by minute they change;
A shadow of cloud on the stream
Changes minute by minute;
A horse-hoof slides on the brim,
And a horse plashes within it;
The long-legged moor-hens dive,
And hens to moor-cocks call;
Minute by minute they live:
The stone's in the midst of all.
Too long a sacrifice
Can make a stone of the heart.
O when may it suffice?
That is Heaven's part, our part
To murmur name upon name,
As a mother names her child
When sleep at last has come
On limbs that had run wild.
What is it but nightfall?
No, no, not night but death;
Was it needless death after all?
For England may keep faith
For all that is done and said.
We know their dream; enough
To know they dreamed and are dead;
And what if excess of love
Bewildered them till they died?
I write it out in a verse -
MacDonagh and MacBride
And Connolly and pearse
Now and in time to be,
Wherever green is worn,
Are changed, changed utterly:
A terrible beauty is born.
~ by William Butler Yeats. Go to the top
* * * * * *
On Easter Day
The silver trumpets rang across the Dome:
The people knelt upon the ground with awe:
And borne upon the necks of men I saw,
Like some great God, the Holy Lord of Rome.
Priest-like, he wore a robe more white than foam,
And, king-like, swathed himself in royal red,
Three crowns of gold rose high upon his head:
In splendour and in light the Pope passed home.
My heart stole back across wide wastes of years
To One who wandered by a lonely sea,
And sought in vain for any place of rest:
'Foxes have holes, and every bird its nest.
I, only I, must wander wearily,
And bruise my feet, and drink wine salt with tears.'
~ by Oscar Wilde. Go to the top
* * * * * *
Easter
MOST glorious Lord of Lyfe! that, on this day,
Didst make Thy triumph over death and sin;
And, having harrowd hell, didst bring away
Captivity thence captive, us to win:
This joyous day, deare Lord, with joy begin;
And grant that we, for whom thou diddest dye,
Being with Thy deare blood clene washt from sin,
May live for ever in felicity!
And that Thy love we weighing worthily,
May likewise love Thee for the same againe;
And for Thy sake, that all lyke deare didst buy,
With love may one another entertayne!
So let us love, deare Love, lyke as we ought,
--Love is the lesson which the Lord us taught.
~ by Edmund Spenser. Go to the top
* * * * * *
Easter Communion
Pure fasted faces draw unto this feast:
God comes all sweetness to your Lenten lips.
You striped in secret with breath-taking whips,
Those crooked rough-scored chequers may be pieced
To crosses meant for Jesu's; you whom the East
With draught of thin and pursuant cold so nips
Breathe Easter now; you serged fellowships,
You vigil-keepers with low flames decreased,
God shall o'er-brim the measures you have spent
With oil of gladness, for sackcloth and frieze
And the ever-fretting shirt of punishment
Give myrrhy-threaded golden folds of ease.
Your scarce-sheathed bones are weary of being bent:
Lo, God shall strengthen all the feeble knees.
~ by Gerard Manley Hopkins. Go to the top
* * * * * *
Easter comes but once a year
Easter comes but once a year
But when it does, we all know its here
Children filling themselves with chocolate
Dad's down the pub for a pint of beer!
We go to the church for the wine and bread
Dad's half asleep, and jerking his head
Baby sister is here too, munching away
On the free easter egg that the Priest gave us today
But remember we must, that the Lord died for us
And ascended into heaven to give us fresh lives
For each and every one of us.
Go to the top
* * * * * *
Easter Holiday
Easter holiday, is a celebration of the resurrection of Christ!
Jesus Christ, The Son of God, bled and died for us in a sacrifice.
This Spring day's celebrated, generally in the month of April.
All of the bright and pretty colors, of the Easter outfits with frills.
Women and children will wear their Easter bonnets.
In the Spring, you'll hear the various musical sonnets.
April will bring many rain showers.
That'll bring us various beautiful flowers.
One special flower for this day is the Easter Lily.
It's color is white, and yet snowy & milky.
The birds will sing their songs of praise.
As we begin to feel the warmth of the sun's rays.
As we say "Goodbye" to the winter's gloom,
The flowers and trees have already begun to bloom.
All of life's beauty, The Lord created, for us all to share.
Spring breezes begin to flow, sending fragrances through the air.
The winter's thawing will let the rivers, lakes, and streams rise and flow.
The beauty of the Earth will make us all feel aglow!
Farmers and gardeners will start to hoe.
And then they'll begin to sow.
On Sundays, we'll hear the various church bells ring.
Let's be grateful for the LORD, let's rejoice and sing.
If it wasn't for the Lord, we wouldn't have anything!
Go to the top
* * * * * *
I Had an Easter Bunny
I had an Easter bunny,
One day she ran away.
I looked for her by moonlight,
I looked for her by day.
I found her in the meadow
With her babies 1, 2, 3.
So now I have four rabbit pets
To run and jump with me.
Go to the top
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