Still the heart and stay the breath -- There's a deeper death than death! This is death, when living soul Yields to deadly sin's control; When, beneath the devil's arts, Love, the light of life, departs; When the body, moving still, Bears about a lifeless will, And the spirit, formed to rise Ever-growing in the skies, Is a dead and empty seed: This, ah, this is death indeed! Rich the years, with fruitage rife -- There's a higher life than life! This is life, when spirits press Into every nobleness; When on failure and defeat Power sets his lordly seat; When, although the body fail, Spirit energies prevail, And the world beholds a man After the Creator's plan, Soul from all its bondage freed; This, ah, this is life indeed! Hear the resurrection cry: Dying, yet you shall not die! Christ is He that conquereth All this deeper death than death; Christ, from out of mortal strife, Won this higher life than life -- Wins it through eternity, Just for you and just for me. |