Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, ON THE DEPARTURE OF REV. MR. WHITE; CHOSEN PRESIDENT OF WABASH COLLEGE, by NATHANIEL PARKER WILLIS


Poetry Explorer

Classic and Contemporary Poetry

ON THE DEPARTURE OF REV. MR. WHITE; CHOSEN PRESIDENT OF WABASH COLLEGE, by                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Leave us not, man of prayer! Like paul, hast thou
Last Line: Of heaven we may behold his face once more!
Subject(s): Clergy; Priests; Rabbis; Ministers; Bishops


LEAVE us not, man of prayer! Like Paul, hast thou
"Served God with all humility of mind,"
Dwelling among us, and "with many tears,"
"From house to house," "by night and day not ceasing,"
Hast pleaded thy blest errand. Leave us not!
Leave us not now! The Sabbath-bell, so long
Link'd with thy voice -- the prelude to thy prayer --
The call to us from heaven to come with thee
Into the house of God, and, from thy lips,
Hear what had fall'n upon thy heart -- will sound
Lonely and mournfully when thou art gone!
Our prayers are in thy words -- our hope in Christ
Warm'd on thy lips -- our darkling thoughts of God
Follow'd thy loved call upward -- and so knit
Is all our worship with those outspread hands,
And the imploring voice, which, well we knew,
Sank in the ear of Jesus -- that, with thee,
The angel's ladder seems removed from sight,
And we astray in darkness! Leave us not!
Leave not the dead! They have lain calmly down --
Thy comfort in their ears -- believing well
That when thine own more holy work was done,
Thou wouldst lie down beside them, and be near
When the last trump shall summon, to fold up
Thy flock affrighted, and, with that same voice
Whose whisper'd promises could sweeten death,
Take up once more the interrupted strain,
And wait Christ's coming, saying, "Here am I,
And those whom thou hast given me!" Leave not
The old, who, 'mid the gathering shadows, cling
To their accustom'd staff, and know not how
To lose thee, and so near the darkest hour!
Leave not the penitent, whose soul may be
Deaf to the strange voice, but awake to thine!
Leave not the mourner thou hast sooth'd -- the heart
Turns to its comforter again! Leave not
The child thou hast baptized! another's care
May not keep bright, upon the mother's heart,
The covenant seal; the infant's ear has caught
Words it has strangely ponder'd from thy lips,
And the remember'd tone may find again,
And quicken for the harvest, the first seed
Sown for eternity! Leave not the child!

Yet if thou wilt -- if, "bound in spirit," thou
Must go, and we shall see thy face no more,
"The will of God be done!" We do not say
Remember us -- thou wilt -- in love and prayer!
And thou wilt be remember'd -- by the dead,
When the last trump awakes them -- by the old,
When, of the "silver cord" whose strength thou knowest,
The last thread fails -- by the bereaved and stricken,
When the dark cloud, wherein thou found'st a spot
Broke by the light of mercy, lowers again --
By the sad mother, pleading for her child,
In murmurs difficult, since thou art gone --
By all thou leavest, when the Sabbath-bell
Brings us together, and the closing hymn
Hushes our hearts to pray, and thy loved voice,
That all our wants had grown to, (only thus,
'Twould seem, articulate to God,) falls not
Upon our listening ears -- remember'd thus --
Remember'd well -- in all our holiest hours --
Will be the faithful shepherd we have lost!
And ever with one prayer, for which our love
Will find the pleading words, -- that in the light
Of heaven we may behold his face once more!





Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!


Other Poems of Interest...
Home: PoetryExplorer.net