While for years the thought of death was so
present to his mind, it was natural for him to sing this wistful:
|
I linger sadly near
The stormy river;
And long to cross, but fear
Lest none deliver:
Oh I that I might but soar
Above its rush and roar,
And on the other shore
Be safe for ever
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From every dismal wave
Come dark foretellings;
I think of all the brave
Lost in its swellings:
O soul of mine, so frail!
What if the flood prevail,
And thou at last should'st fail
To reach those dwellings!
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But see! from yonder shore
On high ascended,
My comrades in the war,
Their sorrow ended:
108
Why should I feel alarm?
They crossed on Jesu's arm,
And I shall know no harm,
By Him befriended.
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A version of this hymn, changed so as to be an
address to the poet, and beginning
|
Thou, often wandering near
The stormy river,--
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is inscribed over his grave in Trefriw Churchyard,
where he lies beside his parents and his wife, under
the sombre shadow of 'the twin yew-trees.'
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