Grand Haven Daily Tribune  August 29, 1898

LINES

Written upon the death of little Marguerite

Johnstone, the beautiful young daughter of

Mr. and Mrs. O. W. Johnstone, of Marion,

Ohio, and tenderly inscribed to the bereaved

parents, and surviving sister of the deceased.

―

BY DAVID FLETCHER HUNTON.

―

And did the angels come

Into your lovely home,

And take her from your tender loving care?

Oh! did they claim the prize,

For fairer, brighter skies?

It must be so:  for Marguerite’s not there!

Has that sweet face been hid,

Beneath the coffin lid?

Oh! must you live, and know, from year to year,

That you no more may meet,

Your living Marguerite?

And must you always miss her presence here?

From room to room you roam,

In your grief-stricken home,

And wring your hands in agonizing prayer!

‘Tis hard for you to say,

“THY WILL BE DONE.”―today ―

For Marguerite, your loved one, is not there.

While you in tears caress

That little empty dress,

And all the things for which she used to care;

They whisper of a past,

That was TOO SWEET TO LAST!

They tell your bleeding hearts―she is not there!

That lovely little face,

That form of perfect grace,

And all that made your darling child so fair;

May not return again,

Into this world of pain;

But in the Great Beyond, you’ll meet her there!

Her spirit oft may come

Into your saddened home,

And sit beside you in that vacant chair!

Aye! often in your sleep,

Her angel eyes may weep,

And watch and guard your silent slumbers there.

Beyond this “vale of tears,”

These struggles, doubts, and fears,

And all the heartache which we have to bear;

There is a world of bliss,

A better one than this,

And Marguerite, will meet and greet you there!

Grand Haven, Mich.

August, A. D., 1898