"Easter Wings"

Cloud of Witnesses

Easter Wings by George Herbert

Lord, who createdst man in wealth and store,

Though foolishly he lost the same,

Decaying more and more,

Till he became

Most poore:

With thee

O let me rise

As larks, harmoniously,

And sing this day thy victories:

Then shall the fall further the flight in me.

My tender age in sorrow did beginne

And still with sicknesses and shame.

Thou didst so punish sinne,

That I became

Most thinne.

With thee

Let me combine,

And feel thy victorie:

For, if I imp my wing on thine,

Affliction shall advance the flight in me.

From A Selection of Poems by George Herbert, chosen and introduced by Ruth Etchells (Tring, Herts, England: Lion Publishing, 1988).

Image: Common Jezebel Delias eucharis by Jeevan Jose, Kerala, India, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons.