"Faithful to the Blameless Prince, Faithful to the Widowed Queen, Loved,--as oft before and since Truth and zeal have ever been,-- His no pedigree of pride, His no name of old renown, Yet in honour lived and died Nature's nobleman, John Brown."
Also, I will here give, as it appears nowhere else, a few lines to a dying brother, for the sake of recording his hopeful last three words:--
"'Life unto life!' This was the whispered word That from my dying brother's lips I heard Faintly and feebly uttered, in the strife Of Nature's agony,--'Life--unto--life!' Yea, brother! for thou livest; death is dead, And life rejoiceth unto life instead; No sins, no cares, no sorrows, and no pains,-- But deep delights, unutterable gains, Now are thy portion in that higher sphere, The heritage of God's own children here Who loved their Lord awhile on earth, and now Live to Him evermore in love--as thou!"
And in this connection I will print here a psychological poem of mine, not to be found in any other of my books:--
"When the soul passes Eternity's portal, In that Hereafter of Being Elsewhere, When this poor earthworm becomes an Immortal, Risen to Life Incorruptible There; If in some semblance of spirit and feature, Still to be recognised one and the same, Not in its entity quite a new creature, But as a growth of the world whence it came,--
"Oh, what a river of gladness or sadness Then must gush out from quick memory's well, Infinite ecstasy, uttermost madness, As the quick conscience greets Heaven--or Hell! Whilst he reviews old scenes and past travels, Grained in himself and engraved on his soul, As the knit robe of his timework unravels And his whole life is unmeshed to its goal.
"Yea, for within him, far more than without him, Works ever following, evil or good, Happiness, misery, circling about him, Plant a man's foot in the soil where he stood: If he was sensual, sordid, and cruel, Sensual, cruel, and base let him be, If he have guarded his soul as a jewel, Holy and happy and blessed be he!
"For that the seeds both of Hell and of Heaven Darnel or wheat-corn, crowd memory's mart, And though all sin be repented, forgiven, Yet recollections must live in the heart: Still resurrected each moment's each action Comes up for conscience to judge it again, Joy unto peace or remorse to distraction, Growing to infinite pleasure or pain.