I am the Living One; I was dead, and now…I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades.
Revelation 1:18
Words: Mary L. Butler, in the Primary Teachers’ Manual, edited by Christopher R. Blackall, Kate Hershey Rowland & Carrie H. Smith (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: American Baptist Publication Society, 1913), number 6.
Music: L. Erhardt (🔊 pdf nwc).
If you know Erhardt’s full name, or where to get a good photo of him or Butler (head & shoulders, at least 200×300 pixels),
The Easter flowers are sweet and fair,
The birds are singing everywhere;
The children, too, their voices raise,
In songs of praise:
They sing the song that ne’er grows old,
The sweetest story ever told.
Christ lives! Christ lives!
Forevermore.
Christ lives! Let all be glad to know,
He lives because He loves us so.
Our Lord, who cares for every need,
Is ris’n indeed!
Sing, children, birds and flowers today,
The Lord is ris’n to reign alway.
Christ lives! Christ lives!
Forevermore.