 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
Thou Are Near
O love divine, that stooped to share
Our deepest pang, Our bitterest tear,
On thee we cast each earth-born care,
We smile at pain while Thou are near.
Though long the weary way we tread,
and sorrow crown each lingering year,
NO path we shun, no darkness dread,
Our heart still whispering "Thou art near."
Oliver Wendell Homes
This I Know
Grief has it rythm--first the wild,
Swift tide of dark despair;
The time of bleak aloneness,
When even god's not there.
And then the slow receding
Till quiet calms the sea,
And bare, washed sand if everywhere
Where castless used to be
The gentle lapping of the waves
Upon the shore--and then
the pearl-lined shells of memories
To help us smile again.
Helen Lowrie Marshall
No Death
There is no death: the daffodil declares it;
The snowdrop dancing in the snow proclaims it;
The robin wears it and the swallow wears it;
All the bright pageantry of april names it.
There is no death : O heavy heart, believe it!
Earth , sun andsky in golden chorus shout it;
Cast sorrow in the fires of spring , nor grieve it;
Life is reborn in love; ah , can you doubt it!
There is no death: spring's meadowlark repeats it;
The hills and valleys echo and commend it;
Like Lazarus, the spirit hears and greets it;
There is no death! death's very headstone proves it:
For lo, and unseen hand as light as breath
Stirs in the dark, stirs the great stone and moves it--
And He stands there...O soul , there is no death.
Joseph Auslander