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The Vision of Prophecy and Other Poems

By James D. Burns ... Second Edition
  

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 I. 
 II. 
 III. 
 IV. 
 V. 
 VI. 
 VII. 
 VIII. 
 IX. 
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
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 I. 
 II. 
 III. 
 IV. 
 V. 
 VI. 
 VII. 
 VIII. 
 IX. 
 X. 
 XI. 
 XII. 
 XIII. 
 XIV. 
 XV. 
 XVI. 
 XVII. 
 XVIII. 
 XIX. 
 XX. 
 XXI. 
 XXII. 
XXII. MEMORIAL LINES.
 XXIII. 
 XXIV. 
 XXV. 
 XXVI. 
 XXVII. 
 XXVIII. 
 XXIX. 
  


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XXII. MEMORIAL LINES.

I know thy God hath given thee sweet releasing
From the great woe thy gentle spirit bore,
Yet in the heart still throbs the thought unceasing,—
Beloved! thou wilt come to us no more.
No more! although we feel thy sainted vision,
The while we speak of thee, is lingering near,
And know that, in the bliss of thy transition,
Thou still rememberest us who mourn thee here.
We loved, and still we love thee. What can sever
This holy bond? The spirit is not dust;
Sweet is thy memory in the soul for ever,
And fondly guarded as a sacred trust.
Dear was thy living image when before us
It stood in all thy youthful beauty's glow,
Yet still more dear thy spirit hovering o'er us
With the bright crown of glory on its brow.

270

How oft the weary heart, its grief dissembling,
Sees the calm smile upon thy features still,
And hears along its chords, like music trembling,
The low clear tones to which it once would thrill!
The vision fades,—we feel we are forsaken,
The gloom returns, the anguish and the care,—
And tender longings in the heart awaken,
Which wish thee here, though thou art happier there.
Alas! how far the Past outweighs the Present,—
The forms that come no more the friends we see!
How the lone spirit feels 'tis far less pleasant
To smile with others than to weep for thee!
Yet, in the struggle of its silent sorrow,
The pining heart can sometimes break its chain,
And from the Saviour's word this hope may borrow,—
Beloved! we shall see thee yet again.