 | The lost pleiad ; and other poems |  |
THE SOUL'S DESTINY.
“For God created Man to be immortal, and made him to be an image of His own eternity.”—
Wisdom.
“Eternity is in thine years.”—
Byron.
Byron.
“We shall not die.”—
Habakkuk.
Habakkuk.
Soul of my being! Life! my Breath!
I long from Thee to know,
When this sad heart shall bow to death,
Where shall my spirit go?
I ask Thee now—for unto me
An answer must be given;
Are we to live, or die, or be
In neither Hell nor Heaven?
I long from Thee to know,
When this sad heart shall bow to death,
Where shall my spirit go?
I ask Thee now—for unto me
An answer must be given;
Are we to live, or die, or be
In neither Hell nor Heaven?
Say! are we doomed to wander here,
The ghosts of what we were—
Watching above each sepulchre
The form that moulders there?
Or, shall we sleep beneath the sod,
When this dark life shall cease?
Or, shall we soar away to God,
And dwell with Him in peace?
The ghosts of what we were—
Watching above each sepulchre
The form that moulders there?
Or, shall we sleep beneath the sod,
When this dark life shall cease?
Or, shall we soar away to God,
And dwell with Him in peace?
Raised from the earth, thy flight shall be
Above the rolling spheres,
On God's own breath, which gave to thee
The gift of endless years.
High in the realms of endless rest,
Immortal thou shalt be,
Surveying all the heavenly blest
That fill Eternity.
Above the rolling spheres,
On God's own breath, which gave to thee
The gift of endless years.
High in the realms of endless rest,
Immortal thou shalt be,
Surveying all the heavenly blest
That fill Eternity.
17
The spirit that can so survive
The dust in its decay,
Has power, within itself, to live
Through Everlasting Day;
For that which has the power to cause
The body thus to be,
Is subject not to Nature's laws,
But lives eternally.
The dust in its decay,
Has power, within itself, to live
Through Everlasting Day;
For that which has the power to cause
The body thus to be,
Is subject not to Nature's laws,
But lives eternally.
Thus shalt thou leave this world of sin,
And soar into the sky,
Where Angels wait to let thee in
To immortality.
And those who had nowhere to rest
Their wearied limbs at night,
Shall lay their heads upon God's breast,
And sleep in sweet delight.
And soar into the sky,
Where Angels wait to let thee in
To immortality.
And those who had nowhere to rest
Their wearied limbs at night,
Shall lay their heads upon God's breast,
And sleep in sweet delight.
There, Death's dark shades no more shall be
The mystic veil between
The World which we desire to see,
And that which we have seen.
There, father, brother, husband, wife—
There, mother, sister, friend—
Shall be united, as in life,
In joys that never end.
The mystic veil between
The World which we desire to see,
And that which we have seen.
There, father, brother, husband, wife—
There, mother, sister, friend—
Shall be united, as in life,
In joys that never end.
No pangs shall there disturb the thrills
Which animate thy breast;
But Angels, on the Heavenly Hills,
Shall sing thee into rest.
No slanderous tongue shall there inflame
Thy heart with words of gall;
For all shall be in Heaven the same,
And God shall be in all.
Which animate thy breast;
But Angels, on the Heavenly Hills,
Shall sing thee into rest.
No slanderous tongue shall there inflame
Thy heart with words of gall;
For all shall be in Heaven the same,
And God shall be in all.
Oaky Grove, Ga., April 3d, 1840.
| The lost pleiad ; and other poems | |