Easter
By Gerard Manley Hopkins
Break the box and shed the nard; Stop not now to count the cost; Hither bring pearl, opal, sard; Reck not what the poor have lost; Upon Christ throw all away: Know ye, this is Easter Day. Build His church and deck His shrine, Empty though it be on earth; Ye have kept your choicest wine— Let it flow for heavenly mirth; Pluck the harp and breathe the horn: Know ye not ’tis Easter morn? Gather gladness from the skies; Take a lesson from the ground; Flowers do ope their heavenward eyes And a Spring-time joy have found; Earth throws Winter’s robes away, Decks herself for Easter Day. Beauty now for ashes wear, Perfumes for the garb of woe, Chaplets for dishevelled hair, Dances for sad footsteps slow; Open wide your hearts that they Let in joy this Easter Day. Seek God’s house in happy throng; Crowded let His table be; Mingle praises, prayer, and song, Singing to the Trinity. Henceforth let your souls always Make each morn an Easter Day.
He is Risen.
Hopkins at his most jubilant. The command to not count the cost, to throw everything upon Christ, lands differently when you remember he wrote this as a young man still finding his way into the faith. The spring stanza, where earth throws winter's robes away, is the one that keeps ringing.
That's a new one to me. Thank you for sharing this. He is risen, indeed. Hallelujah!