Like a beam of hope, with its cheering ray,
It lightens the gloom of life’s weary way;
And when the darkness of death draws near,
And the spirit shrinks from a nameless fear,
It tells the soul of a radiant shore,
Where sorrow and sighing are known no more.
But I am alone;—no loved one is nigh
To bend kindly o’er me and pray e’er I die:
I hear the clear song of the joyous bird,
But I listen in vain for one gentle word.”