MARY.
He says that Jesus is alive to-day,
And bids us come and see the empty grave,
O, what a joy, if this were only true!
But, ’tis too great a mystery. Come hence,
Someone hath borne away our Lord,
To wrest from us the sorrowful delight
Of looking on His face, dead, with the lines
Of mortal agony on brow and lips,
Oh, Mary Magdalene, the world’s strong hate
Might well have spared us this last cruel blow!
MARY MAGDALENE.
But it may be
The angel tells us true,
And that He has arisen from the grave,
And is alive to love and keep His own—
O, blessed hope! which all my being yearns
To grasp and hold—for if He is alive,
It means that you, and I, and all that love
And hold their faith in Him, can never die.
MARY.
I never understood what He did mean
By Life Eternal. So many things I had
Hid in my heart to ask Him.
MARY MAGDALENE.
Look how the sunshine sweeps down on the world!
There never was a yesterday so fair,
Something within me answers to the glow—
And answers to the glad songs of the birds—
And something seems to call out sweet and clear
The night is gone—is gone! the night is gone!!
MARY.
I am amazed! the tears have quickly dried upon your cheek.
I thought your grief was strong,
Too strong to lose itself in Nature’s smile,
The dazzling sunlight, and the song of birds,
The fair——