 | The Burden of the Bell and Other Lyrics |  |
162
THE ANGEL OF THE SHADOW.
Death is not hideous, child; I have seen death;
Ay, in a dream, but smile not; fuller light
Breaks on us oftimes from beyond the veil,
In that strange separate state, than is vouchsafed
In the full noontide sunshine of the life
You deem so real. In dream, then, I saw Death.
Two forms were kneeling by a couch, whereon
A little maid, meek-faced, with soft brown hair,
Lay dying. The great strife was well nigh o'er;
Life had obeyed the summons—held itself
Prepared to go, and hovered, as it were,
Upon the very threshold of its home,
With wings outspread;—while fitfully there rose
A thrilling murmur, not from those still lips,
Sealed from all speaking, but a voice of prayer,
Broken by passionate sobbing, that burst forth
From hearts which strove to feel “thy will be done!”
But could not, for the clinging human love.
Ay, in a dream, but smile not; fuller light
Breaks on us oftimes from beyond the veil,
In that strange separate state, than is vouchsafed
In the full noontide sunshine of the life
You deem so real. In dream, then, I saw Death.
Two forms were kneeling by a couch, whereon
A little maid, meek-faced, with soft brown hair,
Lay dying. The great strife was well nigh o'er;
Life had obeyed the summons—held itself
Prepared to go, and hovered, as it were,
Upon the very threshold of its home,
With wings outspread;—while fitfully there rose
A thrilling murmur, not from those still lips,
Sealed from all speaking, but a voice of prayer,
Broken by passionate sobbing, that burst forth
From hearts which strove to feel “thy will be done!”
But could not, for the clinging human love.
163
Oh! very grievous grew that agony
Of strong affection, wrecked upon the rocks
Of Heaven's immutable judgment,—when, behold!
On a sudden, all the room grew solemn-dim,
And hovering o'er the couch, methought I saw
A shape, as of an angel glorified,
Bright mid the shadows, and thrice beautiful,
With such a look of pure beatitude,
You saw at once it was God's minister,
Sent downward on a blessëd errand there.
One shining hand, outstretched, fair, and as fresh
As from Heaven's living waters just withdrawn,
Touched the poor sufferer's brow;—then ceased the strife,
And all the bitter pain died out at once;
And when those mourners, half in hope, half fear,
Upraised their weeping glances, they beheld,
Not Death, the Angel, but their loved one, dead;
Ay, saw God's ordinance made manifest,
While the grief-torrent overswept their souls.
Of strong affection, wrecked upon the rocks
Of Heaven's immutable judgment,—when, behold!
On a sudden, all the room grew solemn-dim,
And hovering o'er the couch, methought I saw
A shape, as of an angel glorified,
Bright mid the shadows, and thrice beautiful,
With such a look of pure beatitude,
You saw at once it was God's minister,
Sent downward on a blessëd errand there.
One shining hand, outstretched, fair, and as fresh
As from Heaven's living waters just withdrawn,
Touched the poor sufferer's brow;—then ceased the strife,
And all the bitter pain died out at once;
And when those mourners, half in hope, half fear,
Upraised their weeping glances, they beheld,
Not Death, the Angel, but their loved one, dead;
Ay, saw God's ordinance made manifest,
While the grief-torrent overswept their souls.
But still the angel hovered o'er the clay
With aspect very pitiful, as if
It fain would yield some solace, ere it fled,
To those heart-broken ones;—anon, I saw
The glistening hand laid lovingly again
Upon the poor wrenched brow, and vacant eyes,
And on the pallor of the sunken cheeks,
While to the blue-cold lips, those radiant ones,
Those lips of Heaven, were pressed a moment's space,
Softly and tenderly, till such a smile
Grew there, and such a perfect calm was spread
O'er every feature of the meek, dead face;
It was as though the spirit of the child
Said, “Father, mother, there is bliss in death;
Take comfort, O beloved! I go to God.”
Then, beautiful beyond all human thought,
Grew that rapt angel's countenance, lit up
With love, that glowed, and glowed, till all the air
Seemed filled as if with Godlight, in the midst
Of which effulgence, from my enraptured sight,
Passed the pure spirit, leaving nought below
But the calm dead, the human agony,
And this thought, shining in my inmost soul,
Like a great star amid the glooms of earth—
Death is not hideous—Death is Love, and—Life.
With aspect very pitiful, as if
It fain would yield some solace, ere it fled,
To those heart-broken ones;—anon, I saw
164
Upon the poor wrenched brow, and vacant eyes,
And on the pallor of the sunken cheeks,
While to the blue-cold lips, those radiant ones,
Those lips of Heaven, were pressed a moment's space,
Softly and tenderly, till such a smile
Grew there, and such a perfect calm was spread
O'er every feature of the meek, dead face;
It was as though the spirit of the child
Said, “Father, mother, there is bliss in death;
Take comfort, O beloved! I go to God.”
Then, beautiful beyond all human thought,
Grew that rapt angel's countenance, lit up
With love, that glowed, and glowed, till all the air
Seemed filled as if with Godlight, in the midst
Of which effulgence, from my enraptured sight,
Passed the pure spirit, leaving nought below
But the calm dead, the human agony,
And this thought, shining in my inmost soul,
Like a great star amid the glooms of earth—
Death is not hideous—Death is Love, and—Life.
| The Burden of the Bell and Other Lyrics | |