426. Friend after friend departs

1 Friend after friend departs:
Who hath not lost a friend?
There is no union here of hearts,
That finds not here an end:
Were this frail world our only rest,
Living or dying, none were blest.

2 Beyond the flight of time,
Beyond this vale of death,
There surely is some blessed clime
Where life is not a breath,--
Nor life's affections transient fire,
Whose sparks fly upward to expire.

3 There is a world above,
Where parting is unknown,
A whole eternity of love,
Formed for the good alone;
And faith beholds the dying here
Translated to that happier sphere.

4 Thus star by star declines,
Till all are pass'd away,
As morning high and higher shines
To pure and perfect day:
Nor sink those stars in empty night--
They hide themselves in heaven's own light.

Text Information
First Line: Friend after friend departs
Meter: S. H. M.
Language: English
Publication Date: 1867
Topic: Death
Tune Information
(No tune information)



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