Gone

Another hand is beckoning us,     Another call is given;     And glows once more with Angel-steps     The path which reaches Heaven.     Our young and gentle friend, whose smile     Made brighter summer hours,     Amid the frosts of autumn time     Has left us with the flowers.     No paling of the cheek of bloom     Forewarned us of decay;     No shadow from the Silent Land     Fell round our sister's way.     The light of her young life went down,     As sinks behind the hill     The glory of a setting star,     Clear, suddenly, and still.     As pure and sweet, her fair brow seemed     Eternal as the sky;     And like the brook's low song, her voice,     A sound which could not die.     And half we deemed she needed not     The changing of her sphere,     To give to Heaven a Shining One,     Who walked an Angel here.     The blessing of her quiet life     Fell on us like the dew;     And good thoughts where her footsteps pressed     Like fairy blossoms grew.     Sweet promptings unto kindest deeds     Were in her very look;     We read her face, as one who reads     A true and holy book,     The measure of a blessed hymn,     To which our hearts could move;     The breathing of an inward psalm,     A canticle of love.     We miss her in the place of prayer,     And by the hearth-fire's light;     We pause beside her door to hear     Once more her sweet "Good-night!"     There seems a shadow on the day,     Her smile no longer cheers;     A dimness on the stars of night,     Like eyes that look through tears.     Alone unto our Father's will     One thought hath reconciled;     That He whose love exceedeth ours     Hath taken home His child.     Fold her, O Father! in Thine arms,     And let her henceforth be     A messenger of love between     Our human hearts and Thee.     Still let her mild rebuking stand     Between us and the wrong,     And her dear memory serve to make     Our faith in Goodness strong.     And grant that she who, trembling, here     Distrusted all her powers,     May welcome to her holier home     The well-beloved of ours