Once more to gaze upon the mountains far and wide
Where, as a care-free lad, he spent his youthful days;
Once more led out beneath the heaven's rosy lap
Led where the morning lights the chapel walls enwrap,
Brought out to offer there the Heavenly Lord his praise.
The din and whispering stops—the multitude is stilled,
For the hearts of humbled men with grief are over-filled,
And toward the wretched one their sympathies go out.
The throng with tear-filled eyes gazes upon the plain
Where the captive, looking over nature's wide domain
Humbled before his God—stands in a prayer devout.
The risen sunshine's crimson streaks
Color the captive's ashen cheeks,
And from his far-fixed, saddened eyes,
The falling tears, the sunshine dries.
A blossoming dale he sees beneath,
Encircled by a mountain's wreath,
And by a wreath that the forests make . . .
Peacefully sleeps the shining lake
Amidst the calm that this beauty brings.
37
