Poems (Waldenburg)/Arch-bishop Hughes
"BURY ME IN THE SUNSHINE."Dying words of Archbishop Hughes.
Aye, in the sunlight bury him, the loved and honored priest,
Let his grave the sunlight cover, as it rises in the east;
For the body's sake alone, for the spirit hath the light
In the land of purer rays and of the sun more bright.
Let his grave the sunlight cover, as it rises in the east;
For the body's sake alone, for the spirit hath the light
In the land of purer rays and of the sun more bright.
The sunlight of pure noble deeds did bless him all his life,
And the whiteness of a pious heart kept pure amid the strife,
The war, the tumult seemed to bear his spirit higher
Above all earthly tempest cleansed, tempered as by fire.
And the whiteness of a pious heart kept pure amid the strife,
The war, the tumult seemed to bear his spirit higher
Above all earthly tempest cleansed, tempered as by fire.
And his spirit took its flight gently as a summer day doth rest
On the horizon of heaven as the sun sinks in the west,
And the parapets of heaven burst a sunrise to his view
As he left the year on earth to begin in bliss the new.
On the horizon of heaven as the sun sinks in the west,
And the parapets of heaven burst a sunrise to his view
As he left the year on earth to begin in bliss the new.
Th' eternal year! Be nunc dimittis chaunted
For his goodness to the poor, be their tears as tribute granted;
So may he peaceful rest nor our remembrance leaving
For this his glorious gain must stifle all our grieving!
For his goodness to the poor, be their tears as tribute granted;
So may he peaceful rest nor our remembrance leaving
For this his glorious gain must stifle all our grieving!