Grand Haven Evening Tribune November 9, 1895
Lines
In tender memory of MRS. CLARA
VYN, the wife of
DERK VYN,
ESQ., of this city―who went from her
beautiful home on earth to a more beautiful one above,
singing “Nearer, My God, to Thee.” And thus this
womanly woman, affectionate wife and devoted
mother, went to her reward on the 25th day of
September, A. D. 1895; leaving a husband, and
six children, to mourn her departure. These lines
were composed by
DAVID FLETCHER HUNTON,
and by him feelingly tendered to the family of the
deceased, and all there sorrowing friends:
—
In your strangely silent chamber,
And the dreadful gloom around;
You will think of that companion
Lowly sleeping in the ground:
In those seasons of reflection,
And of loneliness and care;
You will mourn the dear departed,
And will miss her presence there!
You will lie awake and number
All the years of wedded life,
Since you led her to the alter,
And was proud to call her “wife”!
You will think of early struggles,
Early hopes, and early tears,
While thus looking down the vista
Of the past eventful years.
And while looking ever backward,
Up from childhood’s fairy plain;
Youth, with all its scenes of beauty
Comes before the mind again!
And the picture charms the senses,
Till your lids begin to fall.
And, half dreamingly―you enter
Into memory’s pictured Hall!
What a charming panorama!
What enchantment fills the brain,
When among familiar faces,
Clara’s face is seen again!
Fairer―sweeter far than ever―
Younger―lovelier than before―
Is the picture of the maiden
Whom you loved and wed of yore!
How you hasten to embrace it!
How you kiss it o’er and o’er!
Till in that delightful seeming,
She is with you as of yore!
But the vision sweet is fading;
Vanishing, the outlines fair;
And you waken to the knowledge,
That your loved one is not there!
You awaken from this dreaming,
With a startled, sweet surprise!―
Half forgetting, that your dearest,
Looks upon you from the skies!
Half forgetting, that above you―
Far beyond these scenes of care―
On the parapets of heaven―
Clara’s waiting for you there!
Waiting, where death dare not enter,
Where there is no night of pain;
Waiting, till Eden’s splendors,
She will meet with you again!
Till that joyous happy meting
With the dear ones “Over there.”
You will miss that wife and mother!
And you’ll miss her everywhere!
When you sit around the table―
When you see that vacant chair―
When you gather at the fireside―
You will miss her presence there!
Though she said “Good Bye” forever,
And then vanished from your view;
Her bright spirit-wings will hover
Over every one of you!
Over you, when nightly sleeping,
O’er your pathway, night and day,
Angel-footsteps will attend you,
Angel-lips will for you pray!
Often, when you deem her absent,
In the world to you unknown;
She, is walking right beside you―
She will not desert her own!
In the shadows of the forest,
In the silence of the glade,
You will often go and visit,
Where her lovely grave is made:―
When you kneel above her ashes―
When anew your sorrow cries―
She, in tenderness will watch you,
With her sad yet loving eyes!
Her sweet faith is balm for sorrow,
Healing for your spirits torn:
Her bright hope lights up the morrow,
And will comfort all who mourn:―
How it cheered her soul when singing
“Nearer, O My God, to thee”!
Grand Haven, Mich., Sept. 29, 1895
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Microfilm Scan: Lines (Vyn) |