Classic Poem

Thy ninety years on earth have passed away:
At last thou restest 'mid that heavenly clime
Where Act is Rest, and Age perpetual prime:
Thy noblest, holiest work begins this day,
Begins, not ends! Best Work is Prayer; and they
Who plead, absolved from bonds of Space and Time,
With lordliest labour work that work sublime,
Order our planet with benignest sway.
So work, great Spirit! Thy toils foregone each year
Bear fruit on earth! Thousands but praise thee now:
Those laureates soon will bend a brightening brow
O'er tomes of thine; on each may drop a tear
For friends that o'er blind oceans pushed their prow
Self-cheated of a guiding light so clear.