THE TAKEN TO THE LEFT

No; it is not dying
Thus to fall asleep
As the work-day closes,
And the shadows deep
Tell of rest arriving,

Slumbers long and light,
With a still lamp burning
In the heart of night.

No; it is not dying:

We are both with Him Who is Lord of all the worlds,

Whether bright or dim.

If we sleep or if we wake

We will keep our tryst,
When the Sign upon the sky
Brings the Day of Christ.

No; it is not dying:

Sure, unwearied arms

THE TAKEN TO THE LEFT

Are beneath me, saving
From the last alarms.
I am sinking thither,
Very full of rest,

As a bird with broken wings

Sinks into its nest.

W. Robertson Nichol.

"IT IS NOT DEATH"

It is not death to die,-
To leave this weary road,
And, 'mid the brotherhood on high,
To be at home with God.

It is not death to close

The eye long dimmed by tears,

And wake, in glorious repose,
To spend eternal years.

It is not death to bear

The wrench that sets us free

From dungeon chain, to breathe the air Of boundless liberty.

It is not death to fling
Aside this sinful dust,

And rise, on strong exulting wing,

To live among the just.

"IT IS NOT DEATH"

Jesus, Thou Prince of life,
Thy chosen cannot die!

Like Thee, they conquer in the strife,
To reign with Thee on high.

Cæsar H. A. Malan.

Tr. by G. W. Bethune.

NOT ALONE

THAT Solemn hour will come for me,
When, though their charms I own,
All human ties resigned must be
For I must die alone.

All earthly pleasures will be o'er,
All earthly labors done,

And I shall tread the eternal shore,
And I must die alone.

But O, I will not view with dread
That shadowy vale unknown:
I see a light within it shed;

I shall not die alone!

One will be with me there, whose voice
I long have loved and known;
To die is now my wish, my choice:
I shall not die alone!

Unknown.