Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, WHAT IS A REVIVAL?, by AMOS RUSSEL WELLS


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

WHAT IS A REVIVAL?, by                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Revival? When the atmosphere
Last Line: Expand to grass and flower and tree.
Subject(s): Christianity


Revival? When the atmosphere
Grows tense, like air around a bier?
When deacons pray in awful tones,
And not a hymn but ends with groans?
When children go to church in fright?
When meetings last through half the night?
When wild sensations overlap,
And no one knows what next may hap?
Revival? No! Such signs as these
Have vanished with dead centuries.

But this is a revival now:
When Christian hearts in longing bow;
When Christian voices boldly dare
The frank appeal, the fervent prayer;
When Christian hands are quick to greet
The first non-Christian man they meet;
When songs in earnest pleading rise,
And hope is shining in our eyes;
When thoughtful spirits look within
And cleanse their hearts from secret sin;
When love is eager to relieve
The souls that tremble, doubt, or grieve;
When homes, with happiness aglow,
Are like a bit of heaven below;
Where business men deal honestly,
And lives are lived in purity;
'Tis then, O Christ of God! 'tis then
Thy Spirit moves the souls of men;
'Tis then revivals come, and bless
The sin-sick world with righteousness.

For not in angry thunder-blast,
Or crashing wave that bends the mast,
Or earthquake shock that rends the ground
Are nature's mightiest forces found;
But where the sunshine pours its grace,
And rain makes glad some thirsty place,
And little seeds all silently
Expand to grass and flower and tree.





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