104
DEATH BED OF DR. PAYSON.
How soothing to a widowed mother's breast,
Her first-born's sympathy.
Be strong, young man!
Lift the protector's arm, the healer's prayer—
Be tender in thy every word and deed,
A Spirit watcheth thee! Yes, He who past
From shaded earth up to the full orbed day
Will be thy witness in the court of heaven
How thou dost bear his mantle. So farewell,
Leader in Israel! Thou whose radiant path
Was like the angel's standing*[1] in the sun,
Undazzled and unswerving, it was meet
That thou should'st rise to light without a cloud.
- ↑ * Revelations, xix. 17.
