Page:Zinzendorff and Other Poems.pdf/186

And through the consecrated emblems seek
Remission of their sins. Why lingerest thou?
—They pointed to a chamber and a couch,
Where fever with its red and quenchless fires
Wrought in Life's citadel. Yet 'mid the pain
And tossing of that sleepless agony
When every nerve was quivering, and the veins
Shrank from the lava-tide that thro' them flow'd
There rose a prayer to Jesus, and those lips
So parch'd and pallid, spake the words of Heaven.
Death drew the curtain, and she slept in peace:
But tears are flowing 'mid the pleasant halls
Where her affections rested, shedding forth
Fresh brilliance, like some never-setting star.
—Yes, there are lingering sighs of mournful thought
Where Poverty doth trim its naked hearth,
And frequent lispings of her name from babes
Who by the robes that shield them from the storm,
And by the holy lessons that she taught
Upon the day of God, remember her.
—But keener grief doth dwell in one lone heart,
Which by the strongest links of earthly hope
Had bound her to its love, so that each scene
Of bright futurity, the Pastor's home,
Altar and flock, and household hymn at eve
Came coupled with her image.
                                            —Of such woe
Weak language speaketh not. But ye who give
Your angel-welcome to each happy guest
That from time's tribulation riseth pure,
Vouchsafe some echo from your thrilling harps,
That at Heaven's bliss, these woes of earth may fade.