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Rh It bade my weary, troubled soul

Her sad complainings cease.

For bitter thougbts had filled my breast,

And sad, and sick at heart,

I longed to lay me down and rest,

From all the world apart.

"Outcast, oppressed on earth," I cried,

"Father, take me home;

O, take me to that peaceful land

Beyond the moon-lit dome.

"On such a night as this," methought,

"Angelic forms are near;

In beauty unrevealed to us

They hover in the air.

O mother, loved and lost," I cried,

"Methinks thou'rt near me now;

Methinks I feel thy cooling touch

Upon my burning brow.

"O, guide and soothe thy sorrowing child;

And if 'tis not His will

That thou shouldst take me home with thee,

Protect and bless me still;

For dark and drear had been my life

Without thy tender smile,

Without a mother's loving care,

Each sorrow to beguile."

I ceased then o'er my senses stole

A soothing, dreamy spell,

And gently to my ear were borne

The tones I loved so well; 17*