University of Virginia Library


134

The Redeemer.

Have pity on me, O my friends!
A mighty hand hath touched me sore.
Why should ye chasten more and more
A man whose sorrow never ends?
Ye sit upon the judgment seat;
As gods ye judge and persecute:
And I, shall I be meek and mute,
Like one whose pulse hath ceased to beat?
I would that all my words were writ
On graven rock or lettered page,
That they might last from age to age,
And men might read them every whit.
I know that my Redeemer bides;
I know that in the latter days
His feet shall stand in earthly ways
And search the glooms where sorrow hides.
Yea, though I sleep beneath the sod,
Though worms destroy this strength and bloom,
Yet I shall part the shrouding tomb,
And see my Savior, see my God;
Shall see him for myself alone,
And not with eyes of other men;
Shall look upon His glory when
He lifts me to His gracious throne.