Beside the dead I knelt for prayer, And felt a presence as I prayed. Lo! it was Jesus standing there. He smiled: "Be not afraid!" "Lord, Thou hast conquered death we know; Restore again to life," I said, "This one who died an hour ago." He smiled: "She is not dead!" "Asleep then, as thyself did say; Yet thou canst lift the lids that keep Her prisoned eyes from ours away!" He smiled: "She doth not sleep!" "Nay then, tho' haply she do wake, And look upon some fairer dawn, Restore her to our hearts that ache!" He smiled: "She is not gone!" "Alas! too well we know our loss, Nor hope again our joy to touch, Until the stream of death we cross." He smiled: "There is no such!" "Yet our beloved seem so far, The while we yearn to feel them near, Albeit with Thee we trust they are." He smiled: "And I am here!" "Dear Lord, how shall we know that they Still walk unseen with us and Thee, Nor sleep, nor wander far away?" He smiled: "Abide in Me." | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...TO A DARK GIRL by GWENDOLYN B. BENNETT THE GIRL OF ALL PERIODS; AN IDYLL by COVENTRY KERSEY DIGHTON PATMORE MOUNTAIN PICTURES: 2. MONADNOCK FROM WACHUSETT by JOHN GREENLEAF WHITTIER ON THE SALE BY AUCTION OF KEATS' LOVE LETTERS by OSCAR WILDE THE SAD SHEPHERD by WILLIAM BUTLER YEATS BALLADE OF SCHOPENHAUER'S PHILOSOPHY by FRANKLIN PIERCE ADAMS MUSIC; AND THE SAVAGE BREAST by FRANKLIN PIERCE ADAMS THE CASE OF EDGAR ABBOTT AND PHILIP RIDD by FRANKLIN PIERCE ADAMS |