Original - Duke Divinity School

How err unblest along th’ Eternal Way!
From all Engagements here I now am free,
But that which keeps my lingering Soul with Thee.
How I have loved, thy bleeding Heart can tell.
And—we may meet—till that dear Time—Farewell.
He ceased, and waiting Angels catched his Breath,
And his quenched Eyes dissolved their beams in death.
But oh! what Words my Passion can express?
What Tongue can speak the force of my Distress?
Why did they tear me from his breathless Clay?
I should have staid, and wept my Life away.
Yet Thou, blest Saint, 64 where-e’er thou now may’st dwell,
Where-e’er thy Spirit does the Rest excell,
If thou can’st listen to my Voice, O take
The softest Vows that Love and Truth can make.
For Thee, my Heart all Pleasure shall forego,
My Eyes, for Thee, shall stream in secret Woe;
Far from the busy World I will retire,
Where mournful Memory feeds the silent Fire.
— By Thee first taught to prove, 65
The Force, the Life, the Elegance of Love!
Sacred to Thee I will thy Gift confine,
Grasp Thee thro’ Death, and be forever Thine!
64Ori.: “Yet, gentle Shade!”
65Ori. “First taught by Thee the noblest Flame to prove,”
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