Verse 1
Ah! woe is me, my Friend is gone
Silent to a World unknown,
Without a Token given:
He did not witness for his Lord,
Or bid me in one parting Word
Come after him to Heaven.

Verse 2
O Depth of exquisite Distress!
Is He entred into Peace,
So suddenly remov’d?
Who shall the Fatal Secret tell,
The Welfare of a Soul reveal
Whom as my own I lov’d?

Verse 3
My other Self, to Eden borne,
Never, never to return
I could with Thanks resign:
But O! to doubt his Welcom there!
Was ever heart-distracting Care,
Was ever Grief like Mine!

Verse 4
Here is the Patience of the Saints!
But my feeble Spirit faints
Beneath so huge a Load:
Some pitying Angel ease my Care,
And tell me, if ye did not bear
His Happy Soul to GOD?

Verse 5
Or rather (if thy GOD allow)
O my Kinder Angel Thou,
Forsake th’ eternal Shore,
Appear to thy poor anxious Mate,
Assure me of thy blest Estate,
And bid me weep no more.

Verse 6
Alas! I know not what I say—
Lord, to Thee alone I pray,
To Thee alone apply:
If Best it is for me to know,
The Doom of my Companion shew;
Did he thy Servant die?

Verse 7
Bring all the Proofs into my Mind:
Shew me why thy Goodness join’d
That gentle Soul to me,
But that we soon might meet above,
And sing the Marriage-Song of Love
Thro’ all Eternity!

Verse 8
Why didst Thou in the worst of Times
Save him from those horrid Crimes,
Which stain the Lawless Great?
His Soul disdain’d to sit with Them,
Who from the Scorner’s Chair condemn
The Virtue which they hate.

Verse 9
Why didst Thou keep him all his days
By a Miracle of Grace
From Open Enmity?
He never dar’d oppose thy Cause,
Against Thee, Lord, who never was,
O was he not for Thee?

Verse 10
Why didst Thou form him of a Mind
Just, and generous, and kind
To succour the Distrest?
He chas’d the needy Orphan’s Fears,
And Pity at the Widow’s Tears
Resided in his Breast.

Verse 11
Did He not love the Poor and Good,
All who for their Saviour stood,
(To Him alas unknown!)
And had he not their mournful Prayers?
And can the Son of all those Tears
Be finally undone?

Verse 12
For Him Thou didst the Spirit impart,
Pleading in thy People’s Heart
With Groans unspeakable:
Their fervent Prayer hath pierc’d the Sky,
And Thou hast said, who canst not lie,
It must, it must prevail.

Verse 13
I see the Opening Door of Hope!
My Companion is caught up;
For O! thy Word was past:
I have Believ’d, Thou knowst, I have,
And pray’d Thee oft in Faith to save
His pretious Soul at last.

Verse 14
Thou heardst in me thy Spirit’s Groans
Heardst him in thy Secret Ones,
The Life we ask’d is given:
He never sinn’d the Sin to Death;
And sure as Thou the Prayer didst breathe,
He is with Thee in Heaven!