| |
| FAREWELL? Oh, no! It may not be; | |
| My firm resolve is heard on high! | |
| I will not breathe farewell to thee, | |
| Save only in my dying sigh. | |
| I know not that I now could bear | 5 |
| Forever from thy side to part, | |
| And live without a friend to share | |
| The treasured sadness of my heart. | |
| |
| I will not boast the martyr’s might | |
| To leave my home without a sigh,— | 10 |
| The dwelling of my past delight, | |
| The shelter where I hoped to die. | |
| In such a duty, such an hour, | |
| The weak are strong, the timid brave, | |
| For love puts on an angel’s power, | 15 |
| And faith grows mightier than the grave. | |
| |
| For rays of heaven serenely bright | |
| Have gilt the caverns of the tomb; | |
| And I can ponder with delight | |
| On all its gathering thoughts of gloom. | 20 |
| Then, mother, let us haste away | |
| To that blest land to Israel given, | |
| Where faith unsaddened by decay | |
| Dwells nearest to its native heaven. | |
| |
| For where thou goest, I will go; | 25 |
| With thine my earthly lot is cast. | |
| In pain and pleasure, joy and woe, | |
| Will I attend thee to the last. | |
| That hour shall find me by thy side, | |
| And where thy grave is, mine shall be; | 30 |
| Death can but for a time divide | |
| My firm and faithful heart from thee. | |
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