The sunbeams sparkle on the crystal waves,
The feathery clouds float softly through the blue
Amid the bending willows robin’s sing—
And fil the air with sweetest melodies.
One near the window scans the prospect grand,
With rapt admiring gaze—but turns to greet
The friends assembling their regard to show
To him, who yestermorn their souls refreshed:
And from the casket of immortal Truth—
God’s holy Word, brought priceless treasures forth.
Now glancing at his watch, “a word of prayer”
Proposes ere we part—and his great soul
Is stirred within him as he each commends
To Him he serves—a covenant keeping God:
The parting comes—the Steamer’s on her way,
And hands are clasped—a benediction breathed,
Which melts each heart with deep emotion stirred.
^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^
“How startling is the knell that tells us
He is gone! That earnest voice,
Filling the temple arch so gloriously
With themes of import to the undying soul,
Enforced by power of fervid eloquence—
Is it for ever mute? That mind so rich
With varied learning and with Bible lore;
That feeling heart, instinct with sympathy
For the world’s family of grief and pain—
Say, are their treasures lost? He heedeth not
Praise from our mortal lips. The monuments
Of bronze or marble, what are they to him
Who hath a firm abode above the stars?
Still may his people mourn; may freshly keep
The transcript of his life; may praise their God
For what he was and is, nor wrongly ask,
“When shall we look upon his like again?”
1866.
(Lizzie E Palmer)
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Based on Topics: God Poems, Life Poems, World Poems, Soul Poems, Friendship Poems, Prayers Poems, Grief Poems, Immortality Poems, Instinct PoemsBased on Keywords: fil, truth-, proposes, wrongly, pain-, comes-, sing-, transcript, yestermorn, heedeth, part-