On the Death of Her Mother

Say not ’tis fruitless, nature’s holy tear,Shed by affection o’er a parent’s bier!More blest than dew on Hermon’s brow that falls,Each drop to life some latent virtue calls,Awakes some purer hope, ordain’d to rise,By earthly sorrow strengthen’d for the skies;Till the sad heart, whose pangs exalt its love,With its lost treasure, seeks a home--above.

But grief will claim her hour,--and He whose eyeLooks pitying down on nature’s agony,He, in whose love the righteous calmly sleep,Who bids us hope, forbids us not to weep!He, too, hath wept--and sacred be the woesOnce borne by Him, their inmost source who knows,Searches each wound, and bids His Spirit bringCelestial healing on its dove-like wing!

And who but He shall soothe, when one dread strokeTies, that were fibres of the soul, hath broke?Oh! well may those, yet lingering here, deploreThe vanish’d light, that cheers their path no more!Th’ Almighty hand, which many a blessing dealt,Sends its keen arrows not to be unfelt!By fire and storm, heaven tries the Christian’s worth,And joy departs, to wean us from the earth,Where still too long, with beings born to die,Time hath dominion o’er Eternity.

Yet not the less, o’er all the heart hath lost,Shall Faith rejoice, when Nature grieves the most.Then comes her triumph! through the shadowy gloom,Her star in glory rises from the tomb,Mounts to the day-spring, leaves the cloud below,And gilds the tears that cease not yet to flow!Yes, all is o’er! fear, doubt, suspense are fled--Let brighter thoughts be with the virtuous dead!The final ordeal of the soul is past,And the pale brow is seal’d to heaven at last!

And thou, loved spirit! for the skies mature,Steadfast in faith, in meek devotion pure;Thou that didst make the home thy presence bless’dBright with the sunshine of thy gentle breast,Where peace a holy dwelling-place had found,Whence beam’d her smile benignantly around;Thou, that to bosoms widow’d and bereftDear, precious records of thy worth hast left,The treasured gem of sorrowing hearts to be,Till heaven recall surviving love to thee!

O cherish’d and revered! fond memory wellOn thee, with sacred, sad delight, may dwell!So pure, so blest thy life, that Death aloneCould make more perfect happiness thine own.He came: thy cup of joy, serenely bright,Full to the last, still flow’d in cloudless light;He came--an angel, bearing from on highThe all it wanted--Immortality!