Classic Poem

Welcome! Thou art the only tear
My tired eyes shall know;
Clearly is shadowed in thy sphere
This earth my home below.
Swiftly as mist of spring-tide flies
My dream of life is flown,
While of the buds of Paradise
The Seraphs weave my crown.

Thou with the toiling, dusty crowds,
On Earth, afar dost flee,
While Heaven opens through the clouds
The Weary One to free;
And clearly streams the morning Light,
A new day doth overflow,
O Land! in thee no heavy blight
My heart shall ever know.

Hark! in the Holy Grove of Palms
The stream of Life doth roll,—
I hear the sound of angels' psalms
Greeting a sister soul;
Upward, as with strong eagle's wings,
To Light's Great Source I fly;
Death! where is now thy bitter sting?
Grave! where thy victory?