Billeder på siden
PDF
ePub

353.

What, though thy body death endure !

Bright as the morning star
Thou yet shalt rise, and be as pure

As holy angels are.

Yes; thou exultingly shalt spring

From this imprisoning sod;

Mount upwards with rejoicing wing,

And glorify thy God.

354.

Though Death may imprison, he cannot destroy me; for the word of the Lord hath prophesied that these dry bones shall live.

355.

And dost thou, Stranger, come to gaze
On sculptur'd records widely spread?
Or verse replete with human praise
That vainly deifies the dead?

Alas! this stone shall only tell

That mouldering dust lies here below;
And point thee where archangels dwell,
And warn thee from eternal woe.

356.

If sin's disease thy soul endure,
Thy Saviour only can thee cure.

357.

Bethink thee, Reader, so misguided,
So careful of thy breath:
Hast thou for life alone provided?
What wilt thou do in death?

358.

This perishable stone records the departure of an imperishable spirit. This earthly monument perpetuates the death of one whose eternal life is registered in heaven.

359.

Had I a tongue whose silver sound
Could wake creation's ear,
Swell the loud note of rapture round,
And soothe thy every fear,—

Could I entrance the conscious earth
With ecstasies unknown,

To measureless delights give birth,

And make them all thine own,—

Alas! what would their joys avail,

What could my powers supply,

When strength, and flesh, and heart should fail?When thou wert call'd to die?

360.

An epitaph is graven here,

To warn thee, Reader, death is near:
Now, thou art reading mine;
But watch and pray, for in short space
Some stranger, standing in thy place,
May ponder over thine.

361.

Think'st thou that God, in awful judgment-hour,
Will pay respect to pageantry and power?
Or ask a sinner, pale and trembling thing,

If he on earth were conqueror or king?

O no: the book--the balances outspread,

Will blanch the cheek, and smite the heart with dread;

The proudest arm that sway'd an earthly rod
Will fall subdued before the throne of God.
Yet fear not, Christian, though thy lot be low,
And troubles throng thy pathway; onward go.
Though poor on earth, despis'd, and suffering loss,
If thou hast fled to thy Redeemer's cross,
As sure as thou the Book of Life shalt see,
So sure thy name therein inscrib'd shall be.

362.

O, if thou in wandering through scenes of vexation,

O'er floods of affliction wouldst lift up thy brow, Avoid the strong torrents of earthly temptation, And fly to "the Rock" that is higher than thou.

363.

He was one of those men who were designed to throw a lustre around them, to exemplify the excellence of virtue, and to extend the happiness of mankind. This monument will moulder away and be forgotten; but the virtue it commemorates is imperishable.

364.

Too long they live who live in sin,
And long enough who die

In early youth, to wing their way,
Exulting, to the sky.

365.

Happy is the pilgrim who, amid the thorns and briers that obstruct his pathway to a better world, can discover none of his own planting.

366.

In shipwreck he perish'd: the loud howling main Was too strong for a mortal's control;

The flood gather'd round him, he struggled in vain,

And the billow pass'd over his soul.

The deep caves of ocean shall give up their dead,
The soul that has sorrow'd shall rest;
And the storm-beaten spirit by mercy be led
To rejoice in the realms of the bless'd.

[merged small][merged small][ocr errors][merged small][merged small]

If bliss be only found above,
And life be but a span;
Sincerely seek a God of love,
And dwell in peace with man.

Your duty do, and put your trust
In nought beneath the skies;
That when your body sinks to dust
Your soul aloft may rise.

« ForrigeFortsæt »