Poems (Howard)/Alone

by Hattie Howard

Alone.

The clays are so long and so dreary to me,
 In solitude wrapped like a pall,
I wish Heaven would send me some comforting friend,
 Who would lovingly answer my call.

My heart is o'erburdened with sorrow and care,
 My life is enshrouded in gloom;
I would that some light from that Heaven so bright
 My desolate way would illume.

I thought, in the happy, bright days of my youth,
 This world was made only for me;
But how changed it appears now, as seen through my tears
 How gloomy and sad it would be.

"The waters encompass me!"—ready to sink,
 I utter this agonized prayer,
That my bark, tempest-tossed, be not utterly lost
 Beneath the dark waves of despair.

I read of the saints and the martyrs of old,
 Who so valiantly fought the good fight,
And received their reward from the hands of their Lord,
 A crown in that land of delight.

And 1 long for the faith that takes hold upon God,
 When the swift-surging billows roll by,
That can look up and sing, while I trustfully cling
 To the Rock that is higher than I.

I long for that tranquil and undisturbed rest,
 When doubts and forebodings shall cease,
And when God shall impart to my sorely-tried heart
 The sweet consolation of peace.