IN MEMORIAM OF THE REV. FRANCIS A. BAKER.
WRITTEN ON ALL SAINTS' DAY, 1869.
All Saints' to-day! To-morrow is All Souls':
To-morrow, blessed soul, I pray for thee.
To-day, O sainted spirit! pray for me.
One day—what years one day of life controls,
My round eternity on that day rolls—
Retired, we prayed together; my bent knee
Before thee; thy hand raised to make me free,
While, as through Moses, mercy wrath withholds.
And well I mind me of succeeding joy,
How thanks more rapt for God's dear love arose.
When my full heart did thy blest words employ:
And after, though unmarked the bashful boy,
How sweet thy chance inquiry thrilled me, heaven knows!
How close the bond there formed, heaven will disclose.