Poems (Smith)/Lines to a Friend (Dear friend, I love thee truly)

by Martha A. Smith

For works with similar titles, see Lines to a Friend.

LINES TO A FRIEND.

---

Dear friend, I love thee truly;
 Ever may thy life abound
In every choicest blessing
 On this earth to be found.

Then, friend, now and ever,
 While I pen these lines to thee,
Thou wilt forget me never,
 But oft remember me.

And when I lie sleeping,
 Hands clasped across my breast,
My heart no longer weeping,
 Having found its quiet rest.

You'll read with eyes o'erflowing,
 Tears from thy gentle eve
Will flow like rain in summer,
 Breaking 'neath the darkened sky.

But soon the cloud will vanish,
 And joy to you'll appear;
For you helped a soul in anguish,
 When all was dark and drear.

By soothing words endearing
 To a heart so sorely riven,
You seem to me appearing
 An angel sent from Heaven

To waft my spirit gently
 Unto that beautiful land,
Where God in all His glory
 And our loving Saviour stand.

I will love thee, friend, forever;
 May our friendship many a day
Brighten and shed ever
 O'er our lives a pleasant ray

Of sunshine to brighten ever
 Our pathway through this gloom,
Leading to sweet home hereafter,
 And rest beyond the tomb.

Then when the eve of life shall come,
 And from earth we pass away,
Unto that beautiful land beyond,
 Where forever is light of day.

This life is but a passing dream
 Of joys and sorrows given,
Where we see but the faintest gleam
 Of our beautiful home in Heaven.