XVIII. DEATH.
Reading edition
It is the joy, it is the zest of life, To know that Death, ungainly to the vile, Is not a traitor with a reckless knife, And not a serpent with a look of guile, But one who greets us with a seraph's smile,— An angel—guest to tend us after strife, And keep us true to God when fears are rife, And sceptic thought would daunt us or defile. He walks the world as one empower'd to fill The fields of space for Father and for Son. He is our friend, though morbidly we shun His tender touch,—a cure for every ill. He is the king of peace, when all is done. Earth and the air are moulded to his will.