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Page:Poems Hale.djvu/159

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he that overcometh, etc.
151
"HE THAT OVERCOMETH SHALL INHERIT ALL THINGS."
Blest promise to the sorrowing heartWhich sees its early hopes depart,Like some sweet flower whose radiant bloomSends up at morn a rich perfume;But ere has beamed the sunset ray,Lies scentless in the traveler's way.
Yet, treasured in love's fountain-cellsThe memory of its fragrance dwells;And o'er our path its dew is shed,When hopes less bright in death are fled.So come their memory o'er the heart,—The early-called from life to part.
Ye who around the bed of deathHave knelt to catch the parting breath;Ye who the fervent prayer have givenThrough him who points the eye to heaven,Who once the same dark pathway trod;In meekness kiss the chastening rod.
What though within their vacant place,The vanished forms no more ye trace?What though be fled the spirit-gem,Is not the promise truth for them?Have they not shared the sacred rest,——The glorious guerdon of the blest?