XV.
Requiescat in Pace.
1.
O sleep in peace! thou aching frame,
Thou beating heart and tortur'd head!
God hath call'd them whence they came,
All the pangs of flesh have fled.
On thy burning pillow ne'er
More to toss disquieted.
There is tranquil slumber here;
There's no waking with the dead.
Sleep in peace!
2.
O sleep in peace! thou trembling soul
May God be merciful to thee,
Now thou hast shot time's awful goal,
The future's dark uncertainty!
From sins recorded purified,
For faith accepted may'st thou be;
And in the arms of Him who died
Thy ransom upon Calvary,
Sleep in peace!
3.
O sleep in peace! remembrance dark!
Deeds of charity and love,
Tears that bending angels mark,
Live on earth, and plead above.
But all that tells of good forgot,
Of sins committed, cease to move—
The grave that frailties telleth not,
For them oblivion's shroud hath wove.
Sleep in peace!
