To the Memory of Mr. George Lang, Who Died in Sydney, 18th
January, 1825.
On Board the Medway, in the British Channel.
AND thou art gone, my brother,
From this world of sin and woe!
And thou hast bid thy last adieu
To friends and all below!
And now thou liest mute and still,
The cold earth on thy breast,
Where the wicked cease from troubling,
And the weary are at rest.
Short was the journey of thy life
And thorny was the road!
But thou hast cleared the barren wild
And reached the mount of God!
And thou hast seen thy Saviour there
In glory all confessed,
Where the wicked cease from troubling
And the weary are at rest!
Full soon thy course was finished,
And the work assigned thee done!
Full soon thy Christian fight was fought,
And thy prize of glory won!
Now thou hast gone to wear thy crown
On high among the blest,
Where the wicked cease from troubling
And the weary are at rest!
If spirits of the just retain
The ties on earth that bind,
Sure thou hast friends to greet thee there
More than thou left’st behind.
Thy fathers, who for Christ endured
Th’ oppressor’s malice long,*
Would greet thee with a parent’s voice
And with an angel’s song.
My brother, O my brother!
Would I had seen thee die!
And caught the last word from thy lip,
And heard thy parting sigh;
And laid thee in the silent grave!
I knew it not the while;
I knew not of thy parting hour,
In Britain’s distant isle!
Sure thou didst go to yonder land
To pave the way for me;
And build an altar to thy God,
Far o’er the dark blue sea.
Perchance again thou goest before
To yonder world above,
That we may there unite ere long
To bless the Saviour’s love!
Sweet was thy welcome when I first
Reached Australasia’s shore,
When all the perils of my voyage,
And all it’s toils were o’er!
But sweeter shall thy welcome be,
If e’er to me ’tis given
To reach, when life’s last voyage is o’er,
The friendly port of Heaven!
(John Dunmore Lang)
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Based on Topics: Love Poems, God Poems, Heaven Poems, Success Poems, Fathers Poems, Work & Career Poems, Sin Poems, Angels Poems, Brothers Poems, Memory Poems, Hospitality PoemsBased on Keywords: medway, australasia