Clarksville weekly chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1873-1890, 1876-02-26
TO ONE In HEAVEN.

First published in 1856, in the Southern
Literary Messenger" over the signature OF
"Amie.'
How my willing footsteps wander thro'
our oIden haunts once more;
Once again hear the vine leaves whisper
ing at the open door;
ASof old the rich glaQ sunshine neckS Win
amber wall and noor.
Scarcely down the caves the zephyrs lift
the elm-boughs' verduous mass,
For sweet June was here before me-here
her dainty feet did pass,
Here she dropped her flowery mantle down
amid the scented grass.
Beauty gladdens all the landscape, white
mists rise along the seas,
Silyery in the morning brightness--pur-
ping as the day llgnG nees,
Till night on her sapphire tablets WfheS
with stars grand mysteries.
Greetings of familiar voices fall in music
Every yale and budand blossom send forth
incense like prayer,
And the bird-notes float like blessings thro'
the dewy steps OF air.
I have stilled my hearts wild yearning as
the solemn years roll round,
And watch not for thy coming, listen not
for word or sound;
But nv soul with thine keeps talking, in
thoughts mystic hush profound.
There are hours when strength seems weak
ness, Joy dream that ends in tears,
When long to wander backward. and un-
weave The griefs and fears
Woven into my woof of being all these
dim and silent years.
When sigh to press the shadows, and end
them there in deathly woe,
While there fell a crown of glory, lighting
In that dim October twilight when we
parted long ago.
When would throw off the fetterS, grow
ing dim with earthly rust,
Gather up thoughts wasted jewels, scatter
ed pearls ofbroken trust,
And like thee would drop down softly
meath the flowers and into dust.
Not that all life's light and beauty, passed
with thee beneath the sod;
That were letting finite sorrow shroud the
bOundleSS love of God,
And the pail blot out The glory of the path
the Savior trod.
Something of immortal vigor, through the
earth-bound spirit flows,
And my soul puts forth its blossoms, tho
griefs wintry tempests blows,
Just as roses lean up smiling at the foot OF
Alpine SHOWS.
OfttimeS joy is wrung from sadness, and
bless Gods power divine,
That no lengths of griefs are stretching to
thy heavenly home from mine,
And my journeyings should be. frightened
for the light that falls on thine.
Can the blossoms of the dead years spring
again with odorous bloom?
Can the rainbowS of dead summers all
their vanished fires resume
Harder were the resurrection of youths
hopes that find a tomb.
were our dreamings, blossom
like with sweetness rife,
In the spanning rainbow's beauty we tor-
got the torrents strife,
Till a tide oflight celestial drifted in upon
thy life.
Like to ivy over ruins, memories over run
Hopes that vanish like the star beams,
when morn's rosy portal opeS;
Like the splendors when dim twilightdeep-
ems down to earnest slopes.
Every heart hath recollections that the lip
breathes not aloud,
Some like rOSeDudS rich in sweetness faded
in their verdant shroud,
Some like Iurid lightnings hidden in the
dark midsummer cloud.
But like white pearls underlying all the
moaning of the sea,
Like to hidden gems enriching the deep
mines obScurlty,
fond memories of thee
Other voices have grown silent, Otner forms
and smiles have fed;
But while the eternal liYeth, we but mock
to call them dead
They but left Times duslxy borders for the
golden gate instead.
Tho our pathways seem divergent-Thou u
where raptured seraph stand,
While / hear no strain celestial 1or the
dropping of times sand
Yet we oft are gliding closely for warm
claSpings of the hand.
For Times journey winds not onward till
its vista's gloom appals,
Near and yet unseen it winds, round and
round the heavenly walls;
the gateway opens, unawares the
glory falls.
am learning earthly lessons, heart and
brain and soul at school;
Time may bring its bitter teachings, change
enforce it's sternest rule,
sill, like dark clouds edged with sunshine,
faith shall wake up beautiful.
may weary of the conflict ere this dust is
thrown aside,
But like fragrant lilies, sprining from the
Stagnanttide,
May my soul from times dark waters come
forth white and glorified.