"Will not these days be by thy poets sung": Poems of the Anglo-African and National Anti-Slavery Standard, 1863–1864
Edited by Elizabeth Lorang and R. J. Weir |
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FOR THE ANGLO-AFRICAN.
EASTER.[1]
Christ is arisen!
Around the world, slowly the tidings spread,
Reëchoing from east to west—
Where'er they come Faith smiles, Hope rears her head,
Greeting the harbinger of rest—
Christ is risen!
Christ is risen!
Oh joy to earth! by human crime defaced:
The knell of Fate and Force was rung
When man, through ignorance, long time debased,
Caught up the lay that angels sung—
Christ is risen!
Christ is risen!
Out from the tomb of Fraud—the realm of Night—
Bursting the cerements of wrong,
Humanity comes forth—with new-born might
Exulting, swells the choral song—
Christ is risen!
Christ is risen!
Thenceforth each soul hallows the varied clay
Wherein it works or waits enshrined:
What matter if beneath the sunbeams play
The color darkens? for mankind
Christ is risen!
Christ is risen!
No longer search the grave of ancient lore
For the dead forms of by-gone thought,
To guide the Church, or rule the State. No more
May God be sold, or man be bought—
Christ is risen!
Christ is risen!
Oh steadfast pledge of Truth's eternal sway!
Of triumph over every foe:
Though baffled in a righteous cause to-day,
Doubt not, O warrior, if thou know—
Christ is risen!
Notes
- Secular concerns and religious beliefs were tightly intertwined in many of the poems published in the Anglo-African; yet relatively few texts foregrounded religious subjects to the same extent as "Easter." The African Methodist Episcopal
Church–affiliated Christian Recorder published poetry on biblical texts and themes with much greater frequency.
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