IN MEMORIAM

Sarah Jane Craig, Died 22nd September, 1865
“Those whom the gods love die young.”

Have you ever watched, when the early sun
Had burst the doors of the struggling night,
How a ray, perchance, pierced the hazy dark,
While the rest stopped sudden in conscious fright?

Have you followed its course, as it onward flew
Like the germ of truth in a soul of wrong,
How it tinged the clouds with a rosy hue,
And cheered whatever it went among?

Have you seen how it waned as it higher rose,
And strange, the horizon as yet was nigh;
And felt as though light left your very soul,
When you saw it flicker, and sink and die?

Such was the fate of her we mourn,
Whose spirit has passed from a world of fears,
As rare, as brilliant, and oh as short,
And our eyes will weep, tho’ unused to tears.

She suffered, and yet didn’t much complain,
For she bore the cross on the strength of love;
And knew that death would to her be gain,
Since one was waiting for her above.

She suffered much, yet her sins were few,
For her soul was an ever-bubbling spring
Of truth, and candour, and faith, and hope,
And every fair and immortal thing.

Still we tax not the wisdom of God’s design,
Nor foolishly cavil at his decrees
That youth and beauty will suffer and die,
While the wicked thrive and depart in peace.

So let us trust when we cannot see,
And let us serve when we cannot ask;
Nor doubt in the unknown futurity,
Reward will be given to pay the task.

Vignes, Cullybackey, 25th September 1865