 | Complete Poems of Frances E. W. Harper |  |
205
TO BISHOP PAYNE
Written for the special celebration of the fortieth anniversary of Daniel A. Payne as bishop of the A. M. E. Church, 1892.
The prison house in which you dwell,
Is falling to decay.
May God renew thy spirit's youth,
Within those walls of clay.
Is falling to decay.
May God renew thy spirit's youth,
Within those walls of clay.
And while a dimness slowly creeps
Around Earth's fairest light,
May heaven grow clearer to your view,
And fairer to thy sight.
Around Earth's fairest light,
May heaven grow clearer to your view,
And fairer to thy sight.
And when Earth's sweetest harmonies
Grow duller to your ear,
May music from your father's house
Begin to float more near.
Grow duller to your ear,
May music from your father's house
Begin to float more near.
Then let the pillars of your home
Crumble and fall away.
So God's dear love within thy soul
Renews it day by day.
Crumble and fall away.
So God's dear love within thy soul
Renews it day by day.
Until life's toil and pain are o'er,
Its sorrow and its night.
And on thy raptured gaze shall burst
The beatific sight.
Its sorrow and its night.
And on thy raptured gaze shall burst
The beatific sight.
With saints redeemed and martyrs crowned,
And loved ones mayest thou meet;
And rest with them thy crown of life,
At our Redeemer's feet.
And loved ones mayest thou meet;
And rest with them thy crown of life,
At our Redeemer's feet.
| Complete Poems of Frances E. W. Harper | |