For us weep rather thou, in calm divine."




In the Silence

_By May Riley Smith_


They are out of the chaos of living,
The wreck and debris of the years;
They have passed from the struggle and striving,
They have drained their goblet of tears.
They have ceased one by one from their labors,
So we clothed them in garments of rest,
And they entered the chamber of silence;--
God do for them now what is best!

We saw not the lift of the curtain,
Nor heard the invisible door,
As they passed where life's problems uncertain
Will follow and burthen no more.
We lingered and wept on the threshold--
The threshold each mortal must cross,--
Then we laid a new wreath down upon it,
To mark a new sorrow and loss.

Then back to our separate places
A little more lonely we creep,