TO A SPIRIT.
Reading edition
———
BY JAMES ALDRICH.
———
Not the effulgent light
Of that bright realm where live the blest departed,
Nor the grave’s gloom, Oh! loved one, and true hearted,
Can hide thee from thy sight.
Thy sweet angelic smile
Beams on my sleep. I see thee, hear thy voice,
Thou say’st unto my fettered soul, “Rejoice!
Wait but a little while.”
Sometimes ’mid cloudlets bright,
The sunset splendors of a summer’s day,
An instant thou’lt appear, then pass away
From my entranced sight.
Up in the blue heavens clear
A never-setting star hast thou become,
Pouring a silvery ray, from thy far home,
Upon my pathway here.
Where tears ne’er dim the eyes,
Shall we not meet in some far blessed land?
Shall we not walk together, hand in hand,
In bowers of Paradise?
My soul, though chained and pent,
Sore of a future glorious career,
In all its God-appointed labor here,
Toils on in calm content.