Christus Consolator

Beside the dead I knelt for prayer,     And felt a presence as I prayed. Lo! it was Jesus standing there.     He smiled: “Be not afraid!” “Lord, Thou hast conquered death we know;     Restore again to life,” I said, “This one who died an hour ago.”     He smiled: “She is not dead!” “Asleep then, as thyself did say;     Yet thou canst lift the lids that keep Her prisoned eyes from ours away!”     He smiled: “She doth not sleep!” “Nay then, tho’ haply she do wake,     And look upon some fairer dawn, Restore her to our hearts that ache!”     He smiled: “She is not gone!” “Alas! too well we know our loss,     Nor hope again our joy to touch, Until the stream of death we cross.”     He smiled: “There is no such!” “Yet our belovèd seem so far,     The while we yearn to feel them near, Albeit with Thee we trust they are.”     He smiled: “And I am here!” “Dear Lord, how shall we know that they     Still walk unseen with us and Thee, Nor sleep, nor wander far away?”     He smiled: “Abide in Me.”