To a Friend in Sorrow

Dear friend I know that o’er your path

That once was fair and bright

A shadow has fallen dark and deep

And shut out the golden light.

I know that you gaze on a pictured face

Through eyes that are dim with tears,

That the glowing hopes that were rosy hued

Are gone from the coming years.

The birds still warble the same sweet notes

And the sky is just as blue;

The flowers till shed the same perfume

But they’re not as sweet to you.

I know that you gaze on a pictured face

And the nights are long and drear;

That you long for the old familiar step,

And the loving voice to hear.

Ah, Life is never the same again

And my heart is sore for you;

The cup is bitter my lips have pressed

And the shadows are ‘round me too.

But we know that over the swelling tide

And safe in his tender care,

Away from sorrow, and care, and fret,

Our loved ones await us there.

And the sorrows we suffer here below

And the cords of love that’s riven

Is only the Father’s way to guide

Our wandering steps to Heaven.

-       Beth