University of Virginia Library

TO A BIBLE.

She read thee to the last, beloved Book!
Her wasted fingers 'mid thy pages strayed;
Upon thy promises her heart was stayed;
Upon thy letters lingered her last look
Ere life and love those gentlest eyes forsook:

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Upon thy gracious words she daily fed;
And by thy light her faltering feet were led
When loneliness her inmost being shook.
O Friend, O Saviour, O sustaining Word,
Whose conquering feet the Spirit-land have trod,
Be near her where she is, Incarnate Lord!
In the mysterious silence of the tomb
Where righteous spirits wait their final doom,
Forsake her not, O Omnipresent God!
E.