The Country Town and Other Poems By the late William John Courthope ... With a Memoir by A. O. Prickard |
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IN MEMORY OF ARTHUR EDEN |
 | The Country Town and Other Poems |  |
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IN MEMORY OF ARTHUR EDEN
[_]
For 57 years Vicar of Ticehurst, Sussex. Buried in the Churchyard of St. Mary's, Ticehurst, 21st November, 1908.
Earth unto Earth! To him we lay below
Dear was the earth with which his ashes blend.
Here, through his life, he never made a foe;
Here, till his death, he never lost a friend.
Dear was the earth with which his ashes blend.
Here, through his life, he never made a foe;
Here, till his death, he never lost a friend.
Where from his youth he watched his living sheep,
Or closed their dying eyes, in hallowed ground
The Shepherd lies, and waits his call from sleep
Among his folded flock that slumber round.
Or closed their dying eyes, in hallowed ground
The Shepherd lies, and waits his call from sleep
Among his folded flock that slumber round.
Pastor and patriot, by their suffering bed
For half a hundred years his face was known:
Their upward steps in Duty's paths he led,
Shared all their joys, and made their griefs his own.
For half a hundred years his face was known:
Their upward steps in Duty's paths he led,
Shared all their joys, and made their griefs his own.
Earth unto earth returns! Forbear to grieve!
Fresh as the flowers his Spirit breathes above,
Shrined in the memories Faith and Friendship leave
Safe in the bosom of Eternal Love.
Fresh as the flowers his Spirit breathes above,
Shrined in the memories Faith and Friendship leave
Safe in the bosom of Eternal Love.
| The Country Town and Other Poems | |