Thus in the opening lines of _Easter Day_ is suggested the subject occupying the entire poem: a consideration of the difficulty attendant upon an acceptance of the Christian faith, sufficiently practical in character to serve as the mainspring of life. The difficulty is not solved at the close, since identical in form with the earlier assertion is the final decision I find it hard To be a Christian. (ll. 1030-1031.) Nevertheless, the nature of the position has been modified. The obstacles in the way of faith are no longer regretted as a bar to progress, rather are they welcomed as an impetus towards the increase of spiritual vitality and growth. It is the work of the intervening reflections and resultant deductions to effect this change, by supplying a reasonable hypothesis on which to base an explanation of the existent conditions of life. As with _Christmas Eve_, so here, for a full appreciation of the arguments advanced, some understanding is essential of the character of the speaker. It is at once obvious that he who finds it hard to be a Christian may not be identified with the critic of the Göttingen lecturer: but, that no loophole may be left for question, the statement is directly made in Section XIV. On such a night three years ago, It chanced that I had cause to cross The common, where the chapel was, Our friend spoke of, the other day. (ll. 372-375.) Later, in the same Section (ll. 398-418), a descriptive touch is supplied, recalling curiously Browning's estimate of himself in _Prospice_. I was ever a fighter, so--one fight more, The best and the last! I would hate that death bandaged my eyes, and forbore, And bade me creep past. Thus the first speaker in _Easter Day_ refers to his childish aversion to uncertainty, even though uncertainty meant present safety. I would always burst The door ope, know my fate at first. (ll. 417-418.)