Poetry Explorer

Classic and Contemporary Poetry

AN EASTER VISION, by                    
First Line: On easter morn I had a wondrous vision
Last Line: Doth every sunrise bring an easter morning.
Subject(s): Easter; Holidays; Jesus Christ; Resurrection, The; The Resurrection


On Easter morn I had a wondrous vision,
And sounds I heard and sights beheld Elysian.
A-straying far beyond reclaim or pity,
Methought I came to the celestial city;
I entered by an ever-open gateway,
By sights and sounds to be bewildered straightway;
And fell exhausted like a breaking billow,
The sky my roof, the floor of glass my pillow,
While high above me in a golden tower
A silver chime was pealing out the hour.

I ne'er had listened to such tuneful ringing;
'T was like a choir of holy angels singing;
And as it rang no sadness did it borrow,
But lifted off my soul its load of sorrow;
It did not ring of sin and condemnation,
It rang of holiness and free salvation;
To me, beneath, a breathless, hated dreamer,
It rang the deathless love of the Redeemer;
Again, 't was like a tide of glory flowing,
Forever there, and yet forever going.
And where I lay, deprived of speech and motion,
'T was rolling over like a rolling ocean;
Not cold and deathlike as a mundane billow,
But warm with life, and toying with my pillow.

I woke in tears, because without the portal:
"Alas," I said, "I am again a mortal!"
Ah me! not yet eternal peace is given;
We hear not yet the harmony of Heaven;
A chime of silver in a golden tower
Rings not today the resurrection hour;
But in our waking, not our sleeping vision,
We hear the sounds, and see the sights Elysian.
In work for Christ we find unfailing pleasure;
In blameless living lay up heavenly treasure;
To him who lives, no humblest duty scorning,
Doth every sunrise bring an Easter morning.





Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!


Other Poems of Interest...
Home: PoetryExplorer.net