a happy world
It oft may visit this.
Perchance around the household hearth
When prayer's sweet incense rise,
It may return as messenger
To waft it to the skies.

'Tis sweet to cherish such a thought,
Even tho' it were untrue,
That spirit-friends are hovering round
Tho' absent from our view.
But, oh! such dreams however sweet,
A solace to impart,
Can never fill the vacant seat,
Nor yet the parents' heart.

The silent toys, the empty clothes,
Those vestiges of death;
Are full of mournful memories,
Which spring from every breath,
The active form the smiling face,
In every thought appear;
The prattling voice so cheering once
Still lingers in the ear.

The future casts a shadow now,
And hopes give place to grief,
And all these things so pleasing once
Can give no real relief.
'Tis only from a heavenly source
That happiness can flow;
There only can the heart procure
A balm for every woe.

Then ye who mourn your absent ones,
Those gifts by nature given,
Remember tho' 'tis loss to you,
'Tis gain to Christ in Heaven,
But still the wounded bosom bleeds,
And cankers with its grief,
For things have not their former charms
To lend the soul relief.

There is no solid base on earth,
On which our hopes are sure;
The Rock of Heaven alone can make
Our faith and hope secure.
This life is full of varied ills,
With pain in every breath;
And everything, however pure,
Contains the germs of death.

How feeble is that vital thread,
Which holds us to the earth;
It may be snapt at hoary age,
Or at the infants' birth.
We see it break in every clime,
At every age and hour,
And still we live as if its strength,
Could match our Maker's power.

The curse of sin like Cain's mark
Is stampt on every brow;
And to the idols of the earth
We in submission bow.
Earth's things may seem as tangible
To life's short-sighted eyes,
But from the magic touch of death
The cherish'd vision flies.

The soul itself, like Noah's dove,
But flutters out its strength
Around the earth, its safety ark,
Then flies away at length.
Perchance it may, while hovering here,
Some olive-leaf procure,
An emblem of a