Hereafter thou shalt fly to the winds of heaven And breathe the fragrance there. Thy spirit shall then wear A garb of beauty unprepared, And run upon the grassy slopes, So green and fair to see, And with ten thousand harps in hand, Shall sweep the golden strings, Of praise for evermore. Oh! the rapture of this heavenly throng, Bathed in dazzling light, With robes so white no Fuller could Enhance their whiteness if he would. So when in Eden spirits were a part of us to-day, They walked and talked with love divine In beautiful array Until a certain day when lo! the scene is changed; Eden is steeped in blackest night, And man became a lower light. A cry goes up! What have I done? And all was stilled. The Eternal doom, Innocence, was robed in guilty fear, And all the angels fled from sight. A voice went forth and spoke the doom, Endless years of toil and gloom; Flaming swords were placed around The garden once where beauty did abound, And with man's awful present state Linked to the dark abyss of hate, Obnoxious in the sight of Him Who deemed man worthy of a nobler thing. Prayers and incense all alike Could not restore the heavenly light. The future marked with love and grace, Restores creation and all the race, To countless realms of boundless space, There to await the end of a divine and just decree: A sacrifice when made would set us free, And light the road through all eternity To brighter spheres where rest and peace Shall give to us full measure of our need. Countless and glorious numbers wait To share with us the future state. See! Standing there across the shore, We meet again to part no more.
