Miscellaneous Pieces in Verse and Prose, By Theodosia [i.e. Anne Steele] |
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To Amira on the sudden Death of her Mother.
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 | Miscellaneous Pieces |  |
To Amira on the sudden Death of her Mother.
Though nature, friendship, filial love awakeThe springs of grief, and though the sudden shock
O'erpower'd the mind, (too weak to meet surprize!)
At length my dear Amira, be our griefs
Restrain'd, obedient to the voice divine
Which calms the winds and seas, that sovereign voice
Which bids the tempest of the mind—“Be still.”
Reflection now returning, may our souls
Adore submissive his disposing hand,
Who gives and takes our comforts as he pleases,
Still wise and good in all. O let our hearts
Complain no more, for through the cloud of woe
Kind mercy shines, her beams disperse the gloom,
As sun-beams chase the fragments of a storm.
Look up, Amira, see the father's hand,
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Say, could the awful messenger appear
In a more gentle form? how soft the touch
That loosen'd nature's bands, dissolv'd the tie
That held the weary spirit, prison'd long,
In a frail, ruin'd tenement below,
And bade her rise to liberty and joy!
Say do we mourn the friend, the parent lost?—
—Ah no, retract the word, she is but call'd,
Before us call'd to her celestial home,
That blissful home, so long, so much desir'd;
And hope soft whispers we shall meet her there.
Meet her—but how? enfeebled, bent with years,
Worn out with pains, her mental powers decay'd
And lost to social joys? though hope, and trust,
And patient resignation shone serene,
The christian's pattern, and the friend's support:
Their work fulfill'd, those graces have resign'd
Their seat to perfect joy and endless praise.
How shall we meet her in the blest abode?
Urania, come, thy fairest colours bring,
Present the dear departed to our view
Such as she shines amid the blissful choir.
Let youth immortal, drest in heavenly smiles,
And winning graces, o'er her form diffuse
Its lively bloom; while dignity and love
Sit on her aspect, such as angels wear!
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In equal colours e'er can represent
A soul made perfect in the realms of light,
And in her saviour's lovely image drest.
Nor can thy tints, though borrow'd from the sky,
Describe the vigorous life, the active joy
Which animates a citizen of heaven.
Urania, drop thy pencil, take the lyre,
Not to deplore the friend, the parent lost;
But to congratulate the saint arriv'd,
From life's long, painful voyage safe arriv'd,
And crown'd, triumphant, on the blissful shore,
With perfect pleasure, and eternal peace.
O could thy lyre but faintly emulate
On earth, the strains which her rapt ear imbibes,
Her voice melodious joins; the notes would charm
The mournful memory of her loss to rest,
And bid desire, and faith, and hope arise
To share her transports in that world of joy.
O may that glorious, happy world emit
Its sweet, though distant radiance to our hearts,
And raise, and fix our hopes and wishes there!
Has not the dawn of that eternal day
Which God's unclouded smile diffuses there,
Sometimes, Amira, beam'd a cheering ray
On these dark scenes? and shall that dawn be lost
To shine no more?—impossible—as soon
The sun shall faint amid his morning way,
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That grace omnipotent, that stedfast truth
On which, below, her heaven-born hope reclin'd,
Who now rejoices in that hope fulfill'd,
Invites our humble trust, forbids our fear.
May the same grace that led her safely through
The cares, the dangers, and the pains of time,
Preserve, support, and guide us in the way,
The living way by which she reach'd the skies!
Then shall we join with her the heavenly choir,
Partake the bliss, and tune the raptur'd song
To Jesus, who prepares a mansion there
For all who love his name, and trust his grace:
To Jesus, who from death's envenom'd dart
Extracts the poison, fatal now no more:
That foe to nature is become a friend;
He at his Lord's command, unfolds the gate
To life, and liberty, and endless joy.
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