James Montgomery

Parted Friends

FRIEND after friend departs:
  Who hath not lost a friend?
There is no union here of hearts
  That finds not here an end;
Were this frail world our only rest,
Living or dying, none were blest.

Beyond the flight of time,
  Beyond this vale of death,
There surely is some blessèd clime
  Where life is not a breath,
Nor life’s affections transient fire,
Whose sparks fly upward to expire.

There is a world above,
  Where parting is unknown;
A whole eternity of love,
  Formed for the good alone;
And faith beholds the dying here
Translated to that happier sphere.

Thus star by star declines,
  Till all are passed away,
As morning high and higher shines,
  To pure and perfect day;
Nor sink those stars in empty night;
They hide themselves in heaven’s own light.