Friends

Friends

Friend after friend departs;

Who hath not lost a friend?

There is no union here of hearts

That finds not here an end,

Living not dying, none were blest.


Beyond the flight of time,

Beyond the reign of death,

There surely is some blessed clime

Where life is not a breath;

Nor life's affections, transient fire,
Whose sparks fly upward and expire.


There is a world above

Where parting is unknown,

A long eternity of love

Formed for the good alone;

And faith beholds the dying here
Translated to that glorious sphere!


Thus star by star declines

Till all are passed away,

As morning high and higher shines

To pure and perfect day!

Nor sink these stars in empty night,
But hide themselves in heaven's own light.

Unattributed

1:21, p. 84

1827.08.03