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At Last

By John Greenleaf Whittier

Topics: classic

When on my day of life the night is falling,     And, in the winds from unsunned spaces blown,     I hear far voices out of darkness calling     My feet to paths unknown,     Thou who hast made my home of life so pleasant,     Leave not its tenant when its walls decay;     O Love Divine, O Helper ever present,     Be Thou my strength and stay!     Be near me when all else is from me drifting     Earth, sky, home's pictures, days of shade and shine,     And kindly faces to my own uplifting     The love which answers mine.     I have but Thee, my Father! let Thy spirit     Be with me then to comfort and uphold;     No gate of pearl, no branch of palm I merit,     Nor street of shining gold.     Suffice it if my good and ill unreckoned,     And both forgiven through Thy abounding grace     I find myself by hands familiar beckoned     Unto my fitting place.     Some humble door among Thy many mansions,     Some sheltering shade where sin and striving cease,     And flows forever through heaven's green expansions     The river of Thy peace.     There, from the music round about me stealing,     I fain would learn the new and holy song,     And find at last, beneath Thy trees of healing,     The life for which I long

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"When on my day of life the night is falling,..."

Exploring the themes of classic, John Greenleaf Whittier delivers a powerful performance in "At Last"... ### Why We Love This Line At Linespedia, we believe that poetry is the ultimate sanctuary for the soul...

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Author:John Greenleaf Whittier

"When on my day of life the night is falling,..." by John Greenleaf Whittier

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"The Text is taken from Percy's Reliques (1765), vol. i. p. 71, 'given from two MS. copies, transmitted from Scotland.' Herd had a very similar bal"

John Greenleaf Whittier

About John Greenleaf Whittier

John Greenleaf Whittier (1807–1892) was an American Quaker poet and abolitionist whose poems—including "Snow-Bound" and "Barbara Frietchie"—celebrate New England life and moral courage. He was one of the Fireside Poets and a leading voice against slavery.

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