AH! why bewaileth friendship still,
Those who have left us pilgrims here;
There dawns on them a brighter morn,
And now beyond the reach of care,
Freed before us from conflict sore,
They are not lost, but gone before.
How great the weight which on them press’d,
And made them oft their weakness know;
Many the days and hours past,
Of doubtful trial here below:
They rest in Christ, their grief’s no more:
They are not lost, but gone before.
How blessed when they wake from sleep
To find that faith had told them true,
And hymns of love on earth begun,
On golden harps to sound anew;
Then shall we meet to part no more;
They are not lost, but gone before.
Secure in Christ from every harm,
No sin nor death can reach them there;
Nor can the snares which compass men
Disturb them with the slightest fear;
Already safe on Canaan’s shore,
They are not lost, but gone before.
May the same faith which led them on,
And strengthen’d them from day to day;
Direct our upward path to God,
Open to us each darksome way,
And to our hearts those friends restore,
Who are not lost, but gone before.