Poems (Waldenburg)/Judge R. W. Peckham
IN MEMORIAM.
Lost on the Ville du Havre, November 22d, 1873, Judge Rufus W. and Mary E. Peckham of Albany, N. Y.
Of thee we ask the loved and lost, O Sea!
Give back their forms, 'tis all of thee we crave;
Keep all thy wealth of fleet and argosy,
Yield thou our dead, though only for a grave!
Give back their forms, 'tis all of thee we crave;
Keep all thy wealth of fleet and argosy,
Yield thou our dead, though only for a grave!
A grave where grass may grow above the sleepers,
And violets bloom above the treasured sod,
Where mourning, yet consoled, may come the weepers
And from their dust look up to Heaven and God!
And violets bloom above the treasured sod,
Where mourning, yet consoled, may come the weepers
And from their dust look up to Heaven and God!
Vainly we ask. With ceaseless monotone
The waves dash on! In ocean's halls must lie
Beloved forms untended and alone
Till the last day breaks to eternity.
The waves dash on! In ocean's halls must lie
Beloved forms untended and alone
Till the last day breaks to eternity.
Rest honored name, unstained integrity,
Rest gentle woman's form beloved by all;
Within our hearts shall ye remembered be
Though o'er thy graves our tears may never fall.
Rest gentle woman's form beloved by all;
Within our hearts shall ye remembered be
Though o'er thy graves our tears may never fall.
God's holy church with comfort in her speech
Reveres thy memory and mourns thy loss;
And o'er thy ocean graves adown shall reach
The golden shadow of her holy cross!
Reveres thy memory and mourns thy loss;
And o'er thy ocean graves adown shall reach
The golden shadow of her holy cross!
Dear Lord, these cherished forms we mourn as dead
In thy sweet mercy trusting, still we see
From the unfathomed space of ocean led
Up through thy sea gate, to eternity!
In thy sweet mercy trusting, still we see
From the unfathomed space of ocean led
Up through thy sea gate, to eternity!