Читать книгу Poems Teachers Ask For, Book Two - Various - Страница 56

One sweetly solemn thought

Comes to me o'er and o'er,—

I am nearer home to-day

Than I've ever been before;—

Nearer my Father's house

Where the many mansions be,

Nearer the great white throne,

Nearer the jasper sea;—

Nearer the bound of life

Where we lay our burdens down;

Nearer leaving the cross,

Nearer gaining the crown.

But lying darkly between,

Winding down through the night,

Is the dim and unknown stream

That leads at last to the light.

Closer and closer my steps

Come to the dark abysm;

Closer death to my lips

Presses the awful chrism.

Father, perfect my trust;

Strengthen the might of my faith;

Let me feel as I would when I stand

On the rock of the shore of death,—

Feel as I would when my feet

Are slipping o'er the brink;

For it may be I am nearer home,

Nearer now than I think.