Staunton spectator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1896, 1883-02-06
BY o. W. V.

S-~~
lie are His judgments, and His ways past d.
,g outw -
BY o. Wv.
A message came upon the wires
On that bright Christmas day,
And filled with sorrow loving hearts
That had been bright and gay.
1t came from their brave dying boy,
To whom with haste they sped,
But ere they reached the mournful scene
His gallant soul had fed.
Historic pages tell us of
Great warriors who have died;
How heroes on the battlefield
Have faced the crimson tide,
But while such dying valor, doth
The gifted pen employ,
No one e'er died more bravely than
This noble hearted boy.
Oh. in that wreck of Christmas morn
What cruel work was done;
But nothing uobler perlshed there
Than this heroic son.
Without murmur or a groan
From earth he passed away,
No prouder life was offered up
On that bright Christmas day.
Oh, joyous was that Christmas eve,
How happy he was then,
He knew not that his life was in
The hands OF wicke ed men,.
The Christmas bells were Ginning still
The world all full Of glee,
While this brave boy was dying in
His untold agony.
How many hearts were asking God
To spare their only boy,
A loving fathers greatest pride,
A doting mothers joy;
But while we prayed his buoyant life
Was ebbing fast away,
And all that came back to them was
Their darling's mangled clay.
Oh. Emmett was happy boy
So frolicsome and bright,
And his gay laugh is ringing in
Our saddened ears tonight.
There was no bitter In the cup
To mingle with the sweet,
And flowers that were without thorns
Sprang wanton at his feet.
He knew no sorrow and no care,
He sported in the leas,
A stranger to hardships and tolls,
Reared in the lap of ease.
But. ah he left his lovely home,
This dangerous life he chose,
By its incentives he was held
Until its cruel close.
Oh, how these loving parents grieve
And how their bosoms ache.
But to the God who pities them
They can this sorrow take.
The ties that bound them to their boy
By death have all been riven,
But they can ,0alk together still,
Within the road to heaven.
May they cling closer to the Cross
While storms are beating high
The troubled waters will grow calm
'In that sweet by and BY"
And when they near "the other shore''
And can the harbor see,
May their freed souls be singing still
Nearer my God to Thee"
His lovely sisters, kind and true,
May they more lovely grow,
And fill the darling brothers. place,
For whom their tears now flow.
The romping trio's broken up
A1ld only ttUo l0e see,
But in Our Fdther's House on high
We hope there toiU be three.
Those gay companions whom he loved
Lar- g.
A star within their azure sky
So suddenly grew dim.
With fearful eyes and loving hands
They laid him meath the sod
And are their hearts now praying for
"a closer walk with God?"
o, comrades, you these questions ask
Wherever you may be
Will not the Master come d0dins
May He not call for meF
AUNT Mary's lonely. widowed heart
Is draped in deepest gloom.
Her merry boy, her faithful friend,
Sleeps in the silent tomb.
And while she lives her thoughts will eli
Around his cherished name,
And "Holly's" floral heights to her
Can Tever be the same.
And there may be another still
Who for our hero grieves,
Whose hopes lie scattered on the ground
Like Autumn's faded leaves
How happy were these golden hours
How sweet their mem'ry still,
But they have left an aching void
The world can never ILL.,"
To many friends and kindred ones
he was so very dear,
And o'er his coffined ashes they
Shed many bitter tear;
But happy, jolly Emmetts gone,
He ne'er will come again,
Goods ways are all past finding OUT
From murmurs we refrain.
The broad, old weeping willow spreads
Its branches o'er the spring,
The flowers In their beauty bloom,
The birds still come and sing,
The old clock on the mantfe'counts
The seconds as before,
But Eh,mett's merry, ringing laugh,
VIII be heard there no more.