FEAR NOT.
“Fear not......I have the keys of the Grave and of death.”—Rev. i. 17, 18.
Oh, cling not, Trembler, to life's fragile bark:
It fills—it soon must sink.
Look not below, where all is chill and dark:
'Tis agony to think
Of that wild waste; but look, oh! look above,
And see the outstretched arm of Love.
Cling not to this poor life: unlock thy clasp
Of fleeting, vapoury air.
The world receding soon will mock thy grasp;
But let the wings of prayer
Take the blest breeze of Heaven, and upward flee,
And life from God shall enter thee.
Oh, fear not Him who walks the stormy wave:
'Tis not a spectre, but the Lord.
Trust thou in Him who overcame the Grave,
Who holds in captive ward
The powers of Hell. Heed not the monster grim;
Nor fear to go through death to Him.
Look not so fondly back on this false Earth:
Let hope not linger here.
Say, would the worm forego its second birth,
Or the transition fear,
That gives it wings to try a world unknown,
Although it wakes and mounts alone?
But thou art not alone: on either side
The portal, friends stand guard.
And the kind spirits wait thy course to guide.
Why, why should it be hard,
To trust our Maker with the soul He gave,
Or Him who died that soul to save?
Into His hands commit thy trembling spirit,
Who gave His life for thine.
Guilty, fix all thy trust upon His merit:
To Him thy heart resign.
Oh, give Him love for love, and sweetly fall
Into His hands who is thy All.
