The shadow of death is around us all,
And life is a sorrowful thing;
For the winds sweep by with a mournful sigh,
And sad are the tidings they bring.
He is dead–and the strong, brave life that he gave
Seemed offered to God in vain;
Yet he died, Christ-like, in a labor of love,
‘Mid sorrow and death and pain.
And why should we sorrow–the crown is his
And the glory of life is won;
Though he died when his labor was just begun,
Yet the work of his life is done.
The beautiful South is a land of death,
Where the shadows darken the sun;
And the moans of the dying are heard in the night
When the deeds of the day are done.
The sunlight falls with a dreary gleam
On the cities where ruin is spread,
And the rain beats down with a mournful sound
On the graves of the silent dead.
Yet high in the heavens a Hand is stretched,
That treasures the deeds of love;
And the lives gone out in the darkness below
Are wrapped in the glory above.
The North bends down in her icy pride
And kisses the land of the sun;
Love joins them both in a flood of tears,
And the glory of peace is won.
The hand that was dyed in a brother’s blood
Now eases that brother’s pain;
And the hearts that in life were driven apart,
In death are united again.
Then why should we sorrow–our God is love,
And lives are not lived in vain;
Bright hope still shines like a star of night
In the shadow of death and pain.
(Fannie Isabelle Sherrick)
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