Harbor Lights

Oh, do not keep me—let me go!
     Before my vision lies
A scene so fair, so beautiful;
Oh, sons and daughters dutiful,
Could you but see with undimmed eyes
You would restrain those bitter sighs.

The gates of opal stand ajar
     And forms of light appear,
Their spotless robes I see, I see:
They beckon me, they beckon me!
And rapturous strains burst on my ear,
Do you not hear them, children dear?

Can this be death’s long dreaded hour?
     Is this that shadowy vale
That timid souls so fear to tread
That I have viewed with pain and dread?
If so, oh peaceful hour, I hail
Thy swift approach, nor will I quail.

     When surging billows drown the dear
          Familiar sounds of earth,
     I shall not breast those waves alone,
     But tenderly I shall be borne
     By One who holds my dying breath,
     Safe through the chill flood-tide of death.

     I see the lights upon the shore—
          Eternity begins!
     Oh, joy to furl my time-worn sails
     Upon the sea of glass! The gales
     Of Heaven are gently wafting me
     Nearer my God, “Nearer to Thee!”