Page:The Writings of John Green Whittier (v.1).pdf/32

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22
NARRATIVE AND LEGENDARY POEMS.
In mute and awful sympathy,
 As they low prayers were given;
And the o'er-hovering Spoiler wore, the while,
An angel's features, a deliverer's smile!

A blessed task! and worthy one
 Who, turning from the world, as thou,
Before life's pathway had begun
To leave its spring-time flower and sun,
 Had sealed her early vow;
Giving to God her beauty and her youth,
Her pure affections and her guileless truth.

Earth may not claim thee. Nothing here
 Could be for thee a meet reward;
Thine is a treasure far more dear:
Eye hath not seen it, nor the ear
 Of living mortal heard
The joys prepared, the promised bliss above,
The holy presence of Eternal Love!

Sleep on in peace. The earth has not
 A nobler name than thine shall be.
The deeds by martial manhood wrought,
The lofty energies of thought,
 The fire of poesy,
These have but frail and fading honors; thine
Shall Time unto Eternity consign.

Yea, and when thrones shall crumble down,
 And human pride and grandeur fall,
The herald's line of long renown,
The mitre and the kingly crown,—
 Perishing glories all!

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