Source:Lithgow-b-means
W. J. M. "The following stanzas were composed on the death of Lithgow B. Means." Daily Pittsburgh Gazette, Jan. 3, 1852, [p. 4]. Newspapers.com 85635798.
[Written for the Pittsburgh Gazette.]
The following stanzas were composed on the death of
LITHGOW B. MEANS.
Oh cruel Death! why didst thou take
Away that joy of mine;
And friendship's cord so rudely break,
When youth was in its prime?
Why didst thou claim, oh cheerless grave,
When life had just begun;
And take from us, when none could save,
The brother and the son?
No more around the social board
Thy lovely form we see;
No more that cheering voice is heard
That was so dear to me.
No more when flowers bud and bloom
At genial Spring's return,
Shall we meet that dear one for whom
We now so deeply mourn.
All nature's hall seems clothed with gloom.
The winds blow loud and chill,
While we behold (for 't is our doom,)
Thy form lie cold and still.
But now thy spirit's gone to rest,
Where it shall ever be—
Happy in its Savior's breast,
Through all eternity.
Thou 'rt gone, dear brother, to that land
Where spirits only dwell—
There to join the heavenly band
Where all is ever well:
There thou wilt meet thy chiefest One,
In whose arm thou didst trust,
And be with Him, where He is gone
To mingle with the just.
When thou wast with us here below,
There's none that ever heard,
When pain and sickness brought thee low,
Thee speak a murmuring word;
But thine afflictions thou didst bear
With Christian fortitude,
That thou mightest with thy Savior share,
In his beatitude.
Then hush your sobs and dry your tears,
That down your cheeks are creeping,
For he has gone where are no fears,
Nor heard the sound of weeping:
Where all is glory, all is peace,
Where all are ever blest,
Where trouble shall forever cease,
And weary souls find rest. W. J. M.
