1. The music of his steps was sought, His time had come, and he came not;
His little ones were wont to greet The sound of his returning feet.
2. He was a faithful man of God, And in his Saviour's footsteps trod;
Stern duty bade him often stray From those who near his bosom lay.
They waited long were waiting still, To see him hastening o'er the hill,
But when from anxious toils returned, Kind hearts with strong affection burned;
Across the brook, and to the door, His manly face with joy spread o'er.
The husband's and the father's voice, In every ear poured richest joys.

3. But ah! those ears no more shall hear
That voice to wife and children dear;
Those eyes of love shall never more
Look on that face with joy spread o'er;
Shall never see their loved one come,
To cheer their hearth and bless their home.
Low lies his form beneath the sod;
High lives his spirit with his God.

4. Yet still they look with glistening eye,
Till lo! a herald hastens nigh;
He comes the tale of woe to tell,
How he, their prop and glory, fell;
How died he in a stranger's room,
How strangers laid him in the tomb,
How spake he with his latest breath,
And loved and blessed them all in death.