University of Virginia Library

1.

“I am in misery, and like unto him that is at the point to die.”

With Eyes which now are closed, now ope anew,
As spirits faintly ebb and faintly flow
In dying; with pale Head that now droops low,
Now turns this side, now that, with death's cold dew
Suffused; now faint upraising turns to view,
With prayers that look to Heaven, as some sore woe
Breaks on the languishment of death; and now
The slumbers of the grave press and pursue
Retiring life; while faint, with fevered tongue,
He thirsts,—with heart that burns to do God's will;
He thirsts,—each word prophetic to fulfil:
And thus, with trembling hands, His foes among,
Seizes and holds the cup of bitterness,
To His parched lips the dregs of woe to press.