Poems (White)/Resurrection

by Jeannie Copes White

For works with similar titles, see Resurrection.

RESURRECTION

There is no death. The leaves you see
Are budding from the lifeless tree.
The birds are singing. Do you hear?
The bees come out, they have no fear;
The butterfly has burst her shell;
The ant again is working well;
The merry brook comes rippling out;
The sweet green grass begins to sprout.
The earth's been sleeping for a while,—
Now breathing, quivering life will smile.

Awake! awake! thou slothful brain,
Throw off the heritage you gain
By every mournful funeral dirge.
Your soul from earth will gently merge
Into a fuller, deeper tone
Of harmony till now unknown.
Arise! arise! Swell out the song,—
Continue it through ages long.
No tongue nor pen must rest until
The whole world with this song shall fill.
Ye cannot die! Live on and on!
For this is resurrection morn.