The flowers appear on the earth. The time of the singing of birds is come, and the voice of the turtle-dove is heard in our land.
Song of Solomon 2:12
Words: Thomas Blackburne, in Hymns and Poems for the Sick and Suffering, by Thomas Vincent Fosbery, second edition (London: Rivingtons, 1850), pages 269–70, alt.
Music: George F. Root, in The Sunny Side, edited by Charles W. Wendte and Henry S. Perkins (New York: William A. Pond, 1875), page 106 (🔊 pdf nwc).
If you know where to get a good picture of Blackburne (head & shoulders, at least 200×300 pixels),
Awake, thou wintry earth!
Fling off thy sadness!
Fair vernal flowers laugh forth
Your ancient gladness!
Christ is risen!
Wave, woods, your blossoms all,
Grim Death is dead!
Ye weeping funeral trees,
Lift up your head!
Christ is risen!
Come, see the graves are green;
In light, we go
Where now our loved ones rest
In hope below.
Christ is risen!
All is fresh and new,
Full of spring and light:
Cold heart, why wearest hue
Of sleep and night?
Christ is risen!
Leave thy cares beneath;
Leave thy worldly love;
Begin the better life
With God above!
Christ is risen!