364.
[Dread sentence! “After my decease!”]
“After my Decease.” 2 Peter i. 15.
1
Dread sentence! “After my decease!”
It bears deep meaning to my heart!
Must soon this mortal journey cease,
And I, from earth, and all things part!
2
Soon from my breast must warmth retreat;
This active frame from toil repose;
This busy pulse forbear to beat,
And the deep sleep my eye-lids close!
3
The place familiar, friend that cheer'd,
Composing memory's choicest store;
The home, from earliest years endear'd,
Must each soon know my face no more!
4
Still higher thought! o'erpowering! vast!
Do I possess a world within!
Must I, when time's brief rounds are pass'd,
A new and endless state begin!
5
My soul, redeemed, return to God,
The source of good, of bliss, of day;
Or make its long and last abode
With the rebellious cast-away!
6
Fountain of Mercy! God of Love!
Through Him alone, the Prince of Peace,
Oh! may I dwell in heaven above
For ever, “after my decease!”
