Page:Fugitive Poetry 1600-1878.djvu/566

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I am Dying.
Hark! I hear my Saviour speaking—'Tis His voice, I know it well,When I am gone, oh! don't be weeping—Brother, here's my last farewell.
I am Dying.
Raise my pillow, husband dearest;Taint and fainter comes my breath,And these shadows stealing slowly,Must, I know, be those of death.
Sit down close beside me, darling;Let me clasp your warm, strong hand—Yours, that ever has sustained me,To the borders of this land.
For your God and mine—our Father—Thence shall ever lead me on,Where, upon a throne eternal,Sits his loved and only Son.
I've had visions, and been dreamingO'er the past of joy and pain;Year by year I've wandered backward,Till I was a child again—
Dreamed of girlhood, and the momentWhen I stood your wife and bride—How my heart thrilled with love's triumphIn that hour of woman's pride!
Dreamed of thee—and all the earth-cordsFirmly twined about my heart—Oh, the bitter burning anguishWhen I knew that we must part!
It has passed, and God has promisedAll thy footsteps to attend;He, that's more than friend or brother,He'll be with you to the end.
There's no shadow o'er the portalsLeading to my heavenly home;Christ hath promised life immortalAnd 'tis He that bids me come,