Stedman and Hutchinson, comps. A Library of American Literature:
An Anthology in Eleven Volumes. 1891.
Vols. IX–XI: Literature of the Republic, Part IV., 1861–1889
In Saint Josephs
By Thomas William Parsons (18191892)[From Circum Præcordia: The Collects of the Holy Catholic Church. 1892.]
W
Sprinkling the palms that graced a maiden’s bier,
I felt a light stream in upon my soul;
And one that near me in the chancel sate,
Who was to the departed soul most dear,
Saw the same light as my hand softly stole
To hers, and suddenly a glory played
Around those palms that seemed to check my breath:
Even as he prayed for light the darkness fled
To both of us: I looked into her eyes
And saw through tears a raptured look that said
A strength new-born doth in my spirit rise,
And though before me lies my sister dead
I also feel the life that lives in death.