Page:Poems Rice.djvu/117

ON THE DEATH OF THE REV. WILLIAM FLINT, D. D.

AND thou art gone from us, alas, forever;
 How bravely, too, was met the dreadful blow;
Gone to thy rest, with every pure endeavor
 That love could yield or charity bestow;
Gone from thy flock which thou so long hast tended
 And taught the way in simple words sublime;
Thy voice is hushed, that ever sweetly blended
 In sacred lore or tuned to holy rhyme.

At heaven's gate, unto the last declaring,
 Nor shunned to teach, those holy truths divine
To every child; for all their trials caring,
 And sought to soothe in meekness all benign;
Gone from thy place beside the chancel railing,
 From scenes away, where thou hast pleading stood,
For erring man the tempter's power assailing,
 In earnest prayer for his eternal good.

Gone from the table, where in life surrounded
 By dear ones whom the Saviour's blood has drawn;
His precious call by thee to us was sounded,
 And now we weep for thee forever gone;