Children

Roman sol­dier, tell us true,
What sort of a watch on guard are you?
The se­pul­cher, seal­èd safe at night,
How came it emp­ty at morn­ing light?

Roman Sol­dier

Why, Pet­er and An­drew, James and John,
They came by night, re­moved the stone,
And long be­fore the break of day,
They stole His bo­dy far away.

Children

Fie, old Ro­man, why tell a lie?

Refrain

For Christ is ris­en, Christ is ris­en in­deed.
Hallelujah, hal­le­lu­jah, hallelujah, Amen.

Children

Roman sol­dier, tell us, then,
Why slew you not those thiev­ing men?
Were a few un­arm­èd Jews too hard
For a vet­er­an, mail clad Ro­man guard?

Roman Sol­dier

O no! you Jews we ne­ver fear;
But we had no chance for sword or spear,
For up so soft­ly did they creep,
While we were all of us fast asleep.

Children

Fie, old Ro­man, why tell a lie?

Refrain

Children

Roman sol­dier, if you were
All fast asleep, as you de­clare,
How could you know, or see, or say,
Who ’twas that stole the Lord away?

Roman Soldier

Old An­nas and Cai­aphas told me so;
The truth they wished that one should know;
They gave me, there­fore, sil­ver and gold,
To tell the sto­ry I have told.

Children

Fie, old Ro­man, why tell a lie?

Refrain

Children

Roman sol­dier, tell no more
The stor­ies you have told be­fore—
Too fool­ish to de­ceive our youth:
But tell us now the sim­ple truth.

Roman Soldier

An earth­quake rolled the stone away;
Half dead with fear we Ro­mans lay:
While, like full sun­rise at mid­night,
Christ rose, and glid­ed from our sight.

Children

Fie, old Ro­man, why tell a lie?

Refrain

Children

Roman sol­dier, your own eyes
Have seen our Lord and God arise;
How can you, now that He is known,
Still wor­ship gods of wood and stone?

Roman Sol­dier

We Ro­mans con­quer where we come;
But Christ hath pow­er to van­quish Rome:
My id­ols all I cast away—
Christ’s sol­dier till my dy­ing day!

Children

Right, old Ro­man, fight for The Light;

Refrain