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Title: Henry Bath (Died October The 14th, 1864)
Author: J. C. Manning [
More Titles by Manning]
"For the charitable heart is as a flowing river:
it moveth meekly and in silence, and scattereth
abroad its blessings to beautify the world."
Ever the silent river flows
Adown the mead in speechless eloquence,
More telling than the language of the tongue;
Its heart reflecting Heaven's own radiance
In unmarred beauty as it glides along.
Ever the silent river flows:
And in its depths, of untold wealth the source,
What sleeping myst'ries, hidden and serene,
Lie in their latent, undevelopt force;
Yet on it moves as though it ne'er had been.
Ever the silent river flows:
No shadowy nook escapes its placid glance;
Tow'rds cavern dark with velvet step it steals;
And passing on as though in dreamful trance,
The story of its mission unreveals.
Ever the silent river flows:
It clothes the meadows with a fleecy mist;
Softens earth's arid heart with gentle rain,
Till by the warm and sunny Morning kisst
Nature looks upward--fresh and bright again.
Ever the silent river flows:
And weeping willows, reaching prayerfully
As though in adoration, droop to greet
The dreamy river as it passes by;
And throw their leafy blessings at its feet.
Ever the silent river flows:
All Nature tells the story of its worth:
A daily miracle--morn, noon, and night
Softly beneficent: of joy the birth:
A voiceless messenger of hope and light.
Ever the silent river flows:
And so, in gentle meekness and sweet stealth,
Out from the life of him whose loss we mourn
There flowed of Charity a boundless wealth,
To cheer the Poor by griefs and sorrows torn.
Ever the silent river flows:
For ever and for ever flowing on:
So runs the river of his goodness rare,
A noble heritage from sire to son;
With grateful hearts abounding everywhere.
[The end]
J. C. Manning's poem: Henry Bath (Died October The 14th, 1864)
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