Now The Green Blade Rises

I've been very conscious of the arrival of the spring flowers over the last week or two. As well as the snowdrops, the bright yellow aconites have been appearing too.
I've found myself humming the hymn "Love is come again". This was written over a hundred years ago by John Crum, an Anglican priest, to be sung to the old French Tune Noël Nouvelet. It is usually sung at Easter, but I think Rev Crum began it with the word "Now" to show that the message is for every day.[I do like the last verse]
    Now the green blade rises, from the buried grain,

Wheat that in dark earth many days has lain;
Love lives again, that with the dead has been:
Love is come again like wheat that springs up green.

    In the grave they laid Him, Love whom we had slain,

Thinking that He’d never wake to life again,
Laid in the earth like grain that sleeps unseen:
Love is come again like wheat that springs up green.

    Up He sprang at Easter, like the risen grain,

Jesus who for three days in the grave had lain;
Up from the dead my risen Lord is seen:
Love is come again like wheat that springs up green.

    When our hearts are wintry, grieving, or in pain,

Jesus' touch can call us back to life again,
Fields of our hearts that dead and bare have been:
Love is come again like wheat that springs up green.

In East Anglia the traditional name for aconites is 'choirboys' because the ring of bracts under the petals is reminiscent of a choirboy's ruff. I searched for a videoclip of the song - and many featured ruffled and surpliced boys like this. But I prefer these two Danish guys with a guitar. I think their version befits the simplicity of the ancient tune.