Poems (Trask)/Nearer
NEARER.
One sweet and precious thought Comes to me every night, When dying day flushes the west With blood-red gleams of light; I'm nearer to the perfect life, Nearer the great To-Be,—Nearer the night when peace shall come! Nearer, my love, to thee!
The winter's cruel cold Sweeps o'er thy graveyard bed; The white snow hovers tenderly O'er thy unconscious head; But peace and calm drop on my heart With each declining sun, For then, I think, 'twill not be long Before we shall be one.
Through toil of hand and brain, And heaviness of heart,—Through all these long-drawn years Since we have been apart,— At each pale twilight's fall Along the woodlands dim, Some spirit-voice has whispered me, "A day's length nearer him!"
Oh, Loved! and Lost! I wait, And dream of the To-Come! In faith I'm trusting Death to bring Me to my one dear home. And in the golden glow Upon that summer shore, We shall clasp hands, to live and love Through all Forevermore.