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66
MY SISTER AT SEA.
Cold the flood beneath thy pillow,
Sister, on the rolling sea!
Yet, o'er every bounding billow
There, my heart goes out with thee.
Cloudless shines the starry heaven
Through the silent midnight air;
Whilst for thee my soul is given,
And for thine, to God in prayer.
Sister, on the rolling sea!
Yet, o'er every bounding billow
There, my heart goes out with thee.
Cloudless shines the starry heaven
Through the silent midnight air;
Whilst for thee my soul is given,
And for thine, to God in prayer.
May He keep thee safe from danger,
Till thou gain the stranger land;
There to give thee, in the stranger,
Kindred heart and kindly hand!
May his angel fondly hover
Near thee, wheresoe'er thou roam,
Every ill to lift thee over,
Till he give thee back to home!
Till thou gain the stranger land;
There to give thee, in the stranger,
Kindred heart and kindly hand!
May his angel fondly hover
Near thee, wheresoe'er thou roam,
Every ill to lift thee over,
Till he give thee back to home!
Round our old paternal dwelling
Here, 't is all a hush profound;—
Save an infant zephyr swelling,
'T is to memory spirit ground.
For their feet, who long had paced it,
In the clods are laid away;
Kindred, who with us have traced it,—
Of the spirit world are they.
Here, 't is all a hush profound;—
Save an infant zephyr swelling,
'T is to memory spirit ground.
For their feet, who long had paced it,
In the clods are laid away;
Kindred, who with us have traced it,—
Of the spirit world are they.
67
Yet their spirits so could cherish
Us, until the mortal died,—
Theirs was not a love to perish
When the dust was cast aside!
Nay, methinks they still are near us,
Thinly veiled from mortal view,—
Joyful ministers, to bear us
Blessings ever pure and true.
Us, until the mortal died,—
Theirs was not a love to perish
When the dust was cast aside!
Nay, methinks they still are near us,
Thinly veiled from mortal view,—
Joyful ministers, to bear us
Blessings ever pure and true.
Soft as moonlight on the lily,
Shed from yon ethereal dome,
Here around us, sweet and stilly,
Do their holy footsteps come.
Now, perhaps, they 're bending over
Me at home, and thee at sea:
Could we but their forms discover,
Fair and glorious would they be.
Shed from yon ethereal dome,
Here around us, sweet and stilly,
Do their holy footsteps come.
Now, perhaps, they 're bending over
Me at home, and thee at sea:
Could we but their forms discover,
Fair and glorious would they be.
Lo! through nature's mist appearing,
Comes, arrayed in light divine,
One, whose eye serene and cheering
Dries the rolling tear from mine.
Sister, O! 't is she whose numbers
Lulled us to our cradle-sleep,—
She who watched our infant slumbers!
Bends she o'er thee, on the deep?
Comes, arrayed in light divine,
One, whose eye serene and cheering
Dries the rolling tear from mine.
Sister, O! 't is she whose numbers
Lulled us to our cradle-sleep,—
She who watched our infant slumbers!
Bends she o'er thee, on the deep?
We of earth, and she of heaven,—
Is she not our mother still?
Love maternal ne'er was given
For the stroke of death to kill!
And, if God, as guardian o'er us,
Keeps some careful angel near,
Who 's so like as she who bore us,
Thus to be our watcher here?
Is she not our mother still?
Love maternal ne'er was given
For the stroke of death to kill!
And, if God, as guardian o'er us,
Keeps some careful angel near,
Who 's so like as she who bore us,
Thus to be our watcher here?
68
Well thou know'st the fear and trembling,
Sleepless nights, and care for thee,
She had suffered past dissembling,
Still of earth, wert thou at sea.
Love, that feared from human weakness,
Vested now with angel power,
May descend, through angel meekness,
For us, in this midnight hour.
Sleepless nights, and care for thee,
She had suffered past dissembling,
Still of earth, wert thou at sea.
Love, that feared from human weakness,
Vested now with angel power,
May descend, through angel meekness,
For us, in this midnight hour.
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