Page:Scenes and Hymns of Life.pdf/24

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Sitting with thy meek eyes, or greeting me Back from brief absence with thy bounding step, In the green meadow path, or by my side Kneeling—thy calm uplifted face to mine, In the sweet hush of prayer! and now—oh! now— How have we loved—how fervently, how long! And this to be the close!

Edith.Oh! bear me up Against the unutterable tenderness Of earthly love, my God! in the sick hour Of dying human hope, forsake me not! Herbert, my Herbert! even from that sweet home Where it had been too much of Paradise To dwell with thee—even thence the oppressor's hand Might soon have torn us; or the touch of death Might one day there have left a widowed heart, Pining along. We will go hence, beloved! To the bright country, where the wicked cease From troubling, where the spoiler hath no sway;