Classic Poem

Twice shall eternal Truth each soul arraign,
Ere all things pass away;
Once at the hour of death, and once again
At the great Judgment Day.

Wherever thou shalt die, — or in the crowd;
Or in the desert lone;
Or in that dear familiar abode,
So long misnam'd thine own;

Or in the scathing flame; or suck'd beneath
The savage howling sea;
Or by whatever other kind of death; —
There shall thy judgment be.

There shall the throne be set, the page outspread,
Whence sentence must be given;
There shalt thou hear thy doom eternal read,
Dread doom of Hell or Heaven!

Ah, then, be quick; thy time is well nigh gone;
The Judge is at the door:
Who knows, my soul, but ere to-morrow's sun
All may be past and o'er?