The Reliquary By Bernard and Lucy Barton. With A Prefatory Appeal for Poetry and Poets |
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A MEMORIAL OF DECEMBER 19th, 1835. |
 | The Reliquary |  |
A MEMORIAL OF DECEMBER 19th, 1835.
Winter's stern winds sweep round
The sepulchre where thy cold reliques lie;
But thou hear'st not their sound,
As mid the lofty, leafless limes they sigh.
The sepulchre where thy cold reliques lie;
But thou hear'st not their sound,
As mid the lofty, leafless limes they sigh.
While we who went to-day,
With thoughts too deep for tears, unto thy worth
Our last sad debt to pay,
Think but of thee beside the blazing hearth.
With thoughts too deep for tears, unto thy worth
Our last sad debt to pay,
Think but of thee beside the blazing hearth.
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And as the night-blasts chill
Howl round our homes, thoughts faithful mem'ry stirs,
Our eyes and bosoms fill,
And are our sorrow's best interpreters.
Howl round our homes, thoughts faithful mem'ry stirs,
Our eyes and bosoms fill,
And are our sorrow's best interpreters.
But not with grief's dark gloom,
As those who know not hope, we mourn for thee;
Thy quiet, peaceful tomb
A source of soothing thought should rather be.
As those who know not hope, we mourn for thee;
Thy quiet, peaceful tomb
A source of soothing thought should rather be.
Though we may greet no more
The bright'ning gladness of thy voice and smile;
Memory shall oft restore
Their recollection anguish to beguile.
The bright'ning gladness of thy voice and smile;
Memory shall oft restore
Their recollection anguish to beguile.
Though we no more behold
Thy self-forgetfulness, thy love to all;
We must, like thee, be cold,
Ere we can cease their influence to recall.
Thy self-forgetfulness, thy love to all;
We must, like thee, be cold,
Ere we can cease their influence to recall.
Selfish our grief must be,
If hopelessly we sorrow'd for thy sake;
And not one thought of thee
Feelings to self confin'd should ever wake.
If hopelessly we sorrow'd for thy sake;
And not one thought of thee
Feelings to self confin'd should ever wake.
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Rather, with thankful heart,
Let us thy cherish'd memory enshrine;
And, if our tears must start,
May they be brighten'd by a hope divine.
Let us thy cherish'd memory enshrine;
And, if our tears must start,
May they be brighten'd by a hope divine.
The hope to meet again,
Through our Redeemer, in a state more blest,
Where sickness, grief, or pain,
Shall have no power to trouble or molest.
Through our Redeemer, in a state more blest,
Where sickness, grief, or pain,
Shall have no power to trouble or molest.
Rest in thine ivied cell!
Till the last trumpet shall its silence burst;
When at its quick'ning spell,
The dead in Christ shall joyfully rise first.
Till the last trumpet shall its silence burst;
When at its quick'ning spell,
The dead in Christ shall joyfully rise first.
Then, with its inmates rise!
Refin'd from every taint of earthly leaven,
To form 'neath sun-less skies
A re-united family in heaven!
Refin'd from every taint of earthly leaven,
To form 'neath sun-less skies
A re-united family in heaven!
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