Portage sentinel. [volume] (Ravenna, Ohio) 1845-1854, 1845-10-29
From the Saturday Emporium.
thsa The Last Look, aiiIs,


| 9IH 'hea The Last Look. Iaitsl sdT
There are few in this world who
have not lost some dear friend, either
linked to them by the ties Of Blood, or
by a pleasant companionship enshrined
in their hearts, and haiowed and held
sacred by a true and disinterested affec.
ton. The insatiate tomb has robbed
almost every one whom il has spared
Of some being on whom his eye rested
with pleasure, who soitened for HIM the
asperties of life's rough pathway, and
into whose bosom he poured his own
hearts rich MISUNDERSTANDING, conf
dence and love. They have seen them
droop and die gradually perhaps. They
have seen the rose fade-tl1e flesh waste
the muscles relax-and The eye grow
Iustreless, or beam with that unnatural
light which is sometimes bora Of dis
ease, and only tells ofits progress. They
have watched with grief and tears the
shiftlngs Of feyer--the slow. sinking a.
way Of !ife--the hours Of ,agony--the
days of quiet and apparent GONZALES.
cence-the hopeless relapse-apd the
final triumph of death. They have pac.
ed the room where the, poor body lay
shrouded for the grave, and where death
almost seems visibly present, casting a
shadow upon every wall and object, and
gazcd on the rigid form, the marble
aspect. the soulless, unspeaking features.
They have felt, too, that deep oppres.
sion and heart sickness which comes
over every one on such an occasion,
where the grim tyrant seems to be
watching and gloating over his victim,
and the riot Of decay is already begin
ming to be seen. All this has Iacerated
and crushed their hearts; but, perhaps.
the bitterest pang of all came with the
last look into the grave, when the coffin
had been lowered, the loved object con.
signed to Its long, dreamess rest, and
the busy spade OF the sexton was throw.
ing back the senselcss earth upon it,
and hiding it forever. Hrls-l re
During sickness, we have the object
before us, wasted and changed it may
be, but still capable of communing with
US, of approaching our kindness, of re
turning our love, and of throwing few
rays of sunlight over the cloud of our
sorrow-faint, indeed, yet still enough
to giId its gathering gloom. There is
still the old smile running now and then
over the features, and Lighting them. up
with something oftheir former express
sion. The voice, too, though lis not
what it once was, falls upon our ears,
and we follow our friend with a sort OF
lingering hope, convinced of his doom,
yet half looking tor deliverance, down
TO the very banks of deaths river. And
even when that voice is hushed, and the
last smile has faded, when the bolt of
doom has been launched. and the wreck
of mortality lies before US, we some.
how take melancholy pleasure in gaz.
ing at the expressionless features, and
Iinger in blind devotion at the shrine,
though the deity which hallowed it has
departed! '''' 81" s'@
But when we gaze into the closing
grave we feel that our friend has indeed
gone and hidden from US forever He
has made his final exit from the stage
Of life, the curtain has fallen, and We
shall see him no more, till we ourselves
pass behind the scenes. .s1s.yt g..l
We know that we can listen to his
voice no more, breathing eIoquence in
public, or cheerfulness in the daily in
tercourse of life. We can never gaze
into his eyes again, flashing with genius.
beaming with kindness, or shedding.
tears for human suffering. We shall
meet him no more in the busy crowd,
or at the quiet fireside. The grave has
received him to its remorseIess en-
brace, and his sensible presence is lost
to US forever. ~ 241$ 2EI's5'''a" '.,'
| All these thoughts rush upon the
mind at that moment and sweep over
the heart in tempest of wild, and Bit
ter agony. The brightness of the past
but renders the present more dark-the
future more gloomy, The pipions Of
hope, though unbroken, are wet and
heavy with tea.s, and scarcely bear the
heart above the grave into which il
looks, and where its idol lies. Oh! the
last look into the graves Of kindred
on the cherished companions Of life,
would, indeed, scarcely be endurable,
did not revela lafion aSSnre he ri a re stlr.