An Easter Song
WE bore to see the summer go;We bore to see the ruthless windBeat all the golden leaves and redIn drifting masses to and fro,Till not a leaf remained behind;We faced the winter’s frown, and said,“There comes reward for all our pain,For every loss there comes a gain;And spring, which never failed us yet,Out of the snow-drift and the iceShall some day bring the violet.”
We bore—what could we do but bear?—To see youth perish in its prime,And hope grow faint, and joyance grieved,And dreams all vanish in thin air,And beauty, at the touch of time,
Become a memory, half believed;Still we could smile, and still we said,“Hope, joy, and beauty are not dead;God’s angel guards them all and sees—Close by the grave he sits and waits—There comes a spring for even these.”
We bore to see dear faces pale,Dear voices falter, smiles grow wan,And life ebb like a tide at sea,Till underneath the misty veilOur best belovèd, one by one,Vanished and parted silently.We stayed without, but still could say,“Grief’s winter dureth not alway;Who sleep in Christ with Christ shall rise.We wait our Easter morn in tears,They in the smile of Paradise.”
O thought of healing, word of strength!O light to lighten darkest way!O saving help and balm of ill!For all our dead shall dawn at lengthA slowly broadening Easter Day,A Resurrection calm and still.
The little sleep will not seem long,The silence shall break out in song,The sealèd eyes shall ope,—and thenWe who have waited patientlyShall live and have our own again.
Words in this poem
- ruthless a.
- Having no ruth; cruel; pitiless.
- shall v. i.
- To owe; to be under obligation for. [OE. shal, schal, imp. sholde, scholde, AS. scal, sceal, I am obliged, imp. scolde, sceolde, inf. sculan; akin to OS. skulan, pres. skal, imp. skolda, D. zullen,]
- joyance n.
- Enjoyment; gayety; festivity; joyfulness. [OF. joiance.]
- falter v. t.
- To thrash in the chaff; also, to cleanse or sift, as barley.
- stayed a.
- Staid; fixed; settled; sober; -- now written staid. See Staid.
- morn n.
- The first part of the day; the morning; -- used chiefly in poetry. [OE. morwen, morgen, AS. morgen; akin to D. morgen, OS. morgan, G. morgen, Icel. morginn, morgunn, Sw. morgon, Dan. morgen, Goth. maúrgins. Cf. Morrow, Morning.]
- resurrection n.
- A rising again; the resumption of vigor. [F. résurrection, L. resurrectio, fr. resurgere, resurrectum, to rise again; pref. re- re- + surgere to rise. See Source.]
- patiently adv.
- In a patient manner.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
An Easter Song is in the public domain. This text is taken from A Few More Verses, Project Gutenberg ebook #49518; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Susan Coolidge, An Easter Song, in A Few More Verses (1889), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #49518, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/coolidge-few-more-verses/an-easter-song-2.html, id L23473.
Form and metre
An Easter Song is 44 lines in 6 stanzas. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 90%).
See other poems in iambic tetrameter.
Measured by Laurel's pipeline, not copied from a handbook: how stress and metre are counted, how rhyme is lettered, how a drifted rhyme is found. Where the dictionary cannot confirm a rhyme the letter is withheld, not guessed.
Rhyme words, stanza by stanza
The word that ends each line, lettered by the rhyme it makes; a dash is a line whose rhyme the dictionary could not confirm.
- 1 ABCABCDDE-E goA · windB · redC · froA · behindB · saidC · painD · gainD · yetE · ice · violetE
- 2 AB-AB bearA · primeB · grieved · airA · timeB
- 3 -AAB-B believed · saidA · deadA · seesB · waits · theseB
- 4 A--A------- paleA · wan · sea · veilA · one · silently · say · alway · rise · tears · paradise
- 5 ABCABC strengthA · wayB · illC · lengthA · dayB · stillC
- 6 AAB-B longA · songA · thenB · patiently · againB
Scansion, line by line
Each line with its syllable count and the stresses the words themselves fix: / stressed, ˘ unstressed, · a syllable the word leaves free and the metre decides. Read against iambic tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| WE bore to see the summer go; | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| We bore to see the ruthless wind | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Beat all the golden leaves and red | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| In drifting masses to and fro, | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| Till not a leaf remained behind; | 8 | ····˘/·· |
| We faced the winter’s frown, and said, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| “There comes reward for all our pain, | 8 | ··˘/··/· |
| For every loss there comes a gain; | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| And spring, which never failed us yet, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Out of the snow-drift and the ice | 8 | ········ |
| Shall some day bring the violet.” | 8 | ·····/˘˘ |
| We bore—what could we do but bear?— | 8 | ········ |
| To see youth perish in its prime, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| And hope grow faint, and joyance grieved, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| And dreams all vanish in thin air, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| And beauty, at the touch of time, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Become a memory, half believed; | 8 | ˘/·/˘·˘/ |
| Still we could smile, and still we said, | 8 | ········ |
| “Hope, joy, and beauty are not dead; | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| God’s angel guards them all and sees— | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Close by the grave he sits and waits— | 8 | ········ |
| There comes a spring for even these.” | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| We bore to see dear faces pale, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Dear voices falter, smiles grow wan, | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| And life ebb like a tide at sea, | 8 | ········ |
| Till underneath the misty veil | 8 | ··˘/·/˘· |
| Our best belovèd, one by one, | 8 | /˘······ |
| Vanished and parted silently. | 8 | /˘·/˘/˘˘ |
| We stayed without, but still could say, | 8 | ········ |
| “Grief’s winter dureth not alway; | 8 | ·/˘···/˘ |
| Who sleep in Christ with Christ shall rise. | 8 | ········ |
| We wait our Easter morn in tears, | 8 | ··//˘··· |
| They in the smile of Paradise.” | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| O thought of healing, word of strength! | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| O light to lighten darkest way! | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| O saving help and balm of ill! | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| For all our dead shall dawn at length | 8 | ··/····· |
| A slowly broadening Easter Day, | 8 | ·/˘/˘/˘· |
| A Resurrection calm and still. | 8 | ··˘/˘··· |
| The little sleep will not seem long, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| The silence shall break out in song, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| The sealèd eyes shall ope,—and then | 7 | ······· |
| We who have waited patiently | 8 | ···/˘/˘˘ |
| Shall live and have our own again. | 8 | ····/·˘/ |
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