DEATH OF AN INFANT BROTHER

The following lines were composed on the death of an infant brother – he was a child remarkable for infantile (sic) intelligence and extreme beauty – the deep lustre of his clear blue eyes beautiful curls of his sunny hair waving over his lovely forehead always brought to my mind the forms of those bright thousands who sing the holy song before the eternal throne in the blest place where I hope once more to meet him. A few days after leaving Ireland his spirit took its flight and his body was committed to the deep waves of the Atlantic there to repose till the mighty voice that shakes Heaven and Earth shall say: Give up thy dead thou Sea.

He came in beauty like the breath

Of perfume on a flower

He came in beauty like the sound

Of music through a bower

He came among us like a beam

Of radiance from above

He came among us like a dream

Of pure and holy love

His life was like a drop of dew

Upon the rose's leaf

His life was like the rainbow's hue

As lovely and as brief

He faded as the brightness fades

Upon the ice plants wreath

He faded as a flower fades

Beneath the chill wind's breath

He sleeps beneath the ocean's wave

Where the pearl lies deep and clear

The wild sea pours its melody

Upon his sleeping ear

He sleeps in a lovely coral bower

Where gems and gold are bright

And where the weeping pale sea flower

Gleams in the ruby's light

He'll rise again in glory bright

From his still and lonely bed

He'll rise in that awful morning's light

When the sea gives up its dead

He'll stand amid the holy throng

In their home of peace and rest

He'll join the loud triumphant song

With the spirits of the blest

And shall I meet him there my God

And stand before thy face

And meet a welcome such as he

Into thine holy place

Oh Father guide me through the woes

That round my pathway lie

And grant that I may stand so pure

Before thy righteous eye

My God then give me faith and hope

To lead me on my way

And grant that I may … ….. thee

In climes of eternal day

Transcribed from Emily's album

Emily.E.B.(c)

Heartfelt thanks to my friend, Lyn Nunn, who has allowed me to post these wonderful verses written by Emily Elizabeth Beavan ( nee Shaw), her great, great grandmother.
There is a gentleness and an underlying strength in her words as she portrays life in the 1800's.