  It was midnight dark, when I launched my bark On a wild, tempestuous sea; The lightnings flashed, and the white waves dashed Like steeds from the rein set free. ’Twas a fearful night, and no beacon-light O’er the waste of waters shone; On the wide, wide sweep of the angry deep, Alas! I was all alone. I had left behind the faithful and kind, The gentle and true of heart; O God above! from their clinging love, It was hard, it was hard to part. O, why did I leave such hearts to grieve, And haste from my home away? ’Twas the chosen hour of a mighty power, Whose summons I must obey. I had heard the call which must come to all, And I felt, by my quickened breath, I must leave that shore to return no more, For the name of that sea was Death. Like waves in my troubled brain, I drifted away like a soul astray, For I felt that to strive was vain. Like the brooding wing of some grewsome thing, The darkness around me spread; The wild winds roared, and the tempests poured Their fury upon my head. Anon through the night, like serpents bright, The quivering lightnings came, Or an instant coiled where the white waves boiled, To moisten their tongues of flame. In the giddy whirl, in the greedy swirl, I felt I was sinking fast, When an arm, as white as the opal bright, Was firmly around me cast. And a well-known voice made my heart rejoice— “Fear not! for the strife is o’er; To your resting-place in my warm embrace, Do I welcome you back once more.” ’Twas my mother dear spake those words of cheer, Whom I met with a glad surprise, For I thought she slept where the willows wept, Till the day when the dead should rise. But not to a distant sphere; Like a troubled dream did the struggle seem, For my spirit still lingered here. I had weathered the storm, but my mortal form Like a wreck in my presence lay; They said I was dead when my spirit fled, And with weeping they turned away. Then the dearest came, and she sobbed my name; But how could those pale lips speak? She bent o’er my form like a reed in the storm, As she kissed my clay-cold cheek. I was with her there, and with tender care I folded her close to my breast, Till the heart’s wild throb, and the bursting sob, Were silenced and soothed to rest. O human love! there is nought above, That ever will rudely part The sacred tie, or the union high, Of those who are one in heart. A bridge leads o’er from the heavenly shore, Where the happy spirits pass, And the angels that stand with the harp in the hand, On the “sea, as it were, of glass, And the spirits who love the Lord, Can catch the sound through the space profound, And join in the sweet accord. O, what is death? ’Tis a fleeting breath— A simple but blessÉd change— ’Tis rending a chain, that the soul may gain A higher and broader range. Unbounded space is its dwelling-place, Where no human foot hath trod, But everywhere doth it feel the care And the changeless love of God. O, then, though you weep when your loved ones sleep, When the rose on the cheek grows pale, Yet their forms of light, just concealed from sight, Are only behind the vail. With their faces fair, and their shining hair With blossoms of beauty crowned, They will also stand, with a helping hand, When you shall be Outward Bound. |
|
