My Old Sweetheart

My old sweetheart is away to-day;     I feel as I did of old,     In my courting days, when far away     I yearned for her more than gold.     I thought of her handsome, smiling face,     Her noble and cultured brow,     Of her gentle ways, and charming grace;     I missed her less then than now.     Through the long years of our wedded life,     Now nearly a full two score,     She has proved herself a loving wife,     And a sweetheart evermore.     Our love has grown with the flight of time,     As the mountain stream may grow;     Or as a tree in a genial clime     When free from the frost and snow.     The tempest may madly rage without,     We have lasting peace within;     And confidence ne'er gives place to doubt,     Nor concord to noisy din.     She will soon return again to me,     From her visit in the West,     And the dear face that I long to see     Will be nestling on my breast.     And I will feel as in olden time,     With a love not dreamed of then;     No happier man in any clime     Is known to the sons of men.     And when we part at the silent tomb,     'Twill be but a passing day     Before we meet where there is no gloom,     And sweethearts forever stay.     Full forty-six years of wedded life,     Enjoyed with my sweetheart here;     They were happy years, devoid of strife,     And full of Christian cheer;     Then her Master called her spirit home,     And I am left to walk alone.     Ere long my journey, too, will end,     And my spirit to God arise;     Perhaps he may my sweetheart send     To escort me to the skies;     And there with our Saviour we shall be,     Yet sweethearts still through eternity.