Poems (Hale)/To the Memory of a near and dear Friend
TO THE MEMORY OF A NEAR AND DEAR FRIEND.
"Very pleasant hast thou been unto me." Holy Writ.
I little thought, when last we met,
How soon life's brilliant star would set;
How soon thy eye's unclouded light
Would lose its beams in death's dark night.
But, ah! that meeting was our last;
Our sad farewells on earth are past.
How soon life's brilliant star would set;
How soon thy eye's unclouded light
Would lose its beams in death's dark night.
But, ah! that meeting was our last;
Our sad farewells on earth are past.
I saw thee last when health beamed high
From rosy cheek and laughing eye.
Yet once again: but death had hushed
The harp whence love's sweet tones had gushed.
That altered strain!—ah! who can tell
The blight that on my spirit fell?
From rosy cheek and laughing eye.
Yet once again: but death had hushed
The harp whence love's sweet tones had gushed.
That altered strain!—ah! who can tell
The blight that on my spirit fell?
Yes! bright and blest one! thou hast fled;
The moon shines o'er thy peaceful head;
Fled like a dear but vanished dream,
The meteor's fitful, flashing gleam;
Fled like the morning's pearly dew,
Or the pure floweret's fading hue.
The moon shines o'er thy peaceful head;
Fled like a dear but vanished dream,
The meteor's fitful, flashing gleam;
Fled like the morning's pearly dew,
Or the pure floweret's fading hue.
How sweet, when o'er my stricken soul
The blight of Time's sad changes stole,
On thy firm, faithful love to rest,
My solace when by care opprest!
How sweet into thy listening ear
To pour each grief, each doubt, each fear!
The blight of Time's sad changes stole,
On thy firm, faithful love to rest,
My solace when by care opprest!
How sweet into thy listening ear
To pour each grief, each doubt, each fear!
And ne'er in vain. An answering sound
In thy warm heart I ever found.
Thou with my faults wouldst kindly bear,
And sweetly every trial share:
Though dark my soul, as clouds of night,
Thy smiles would make my pathway bright.
In thy warm heart I ever found.
Thou with my faults wouldst kindly bear,
And sweetly every trial share:
Though dark my soul, as clouds of night,
Thy smiles would make my pathway bright.
My steps may join the busy throng;
My ear may list the thrilling song;
In every scene thy form I view,
The kindly-hearted and the true!
Long treasured in my heart shall dwell
The memory of our last farewell.
My ear may list the thrilling song;
In every scene thy form I view,
The kindly-hearted and the true!
Long treasured in my heart shall dwell
The memory of our last farewell.
Our last farewell! For, O! one thought
Is with my inmost spirit wrought.
That breathing tone,—it has for me
The voice, the might of prophecy.
One gracious boon will yet be given,—
To meet, to live, to love in heaven.
Is with my inmost spirit wrought.
That breathing tone,—it has for me
The voice, the might of prophecy.
One gracious boon will yet be given,—
To meet, to live, to love in heaven.
We parted in the house of prayer,—
God's earthly temple, pure and fair.
When grief's last fount of tears has gushed,
And sorrow's anguished strain is hushed,
Let us but meet around that shrine
In heaven,—eternal and divine.
God's earthly temple, pure and fair.
When grief's last fount of tears has gushed,
And sorrow's anguished strain is hushed,
Let us but meet around that shrine
In heaven,—eternal and divine.