Edmund Clarence Stedman, ed. (1833–1908). An American Anthology, 1787–1900. 1900.
By Josiah GilbertHolland381 Daniel Gray
I
For whose sweet rest I humbly hope and pray,
In the great company of the forgiven
I shall be sure to find old Daniel Gray.
For my young eyes oft read for him the Word,
And saw how meekly from the crystal letter
He drank the life of his beloved Lord.
On ready words his freight of gratitude,
Nor was he called as one among the gifted,
In the prayer-meetings of his neighborhood.
Linked in with sacred texts and Sunday rhymes;
And I suppose that in his prayers and graces
I ’ve heard them all at least a thousand times.
His homespun habit, and his silver hair,—
And hear the language of his trite devotions,
Rising behind the straight-backed kitchen chair.
“Help us, O Lord, to pray and not to faint!”
And how the “conquering and to conquer” rounded
The loftier aspirations of the saint.
He never kissed his children—so they say;
And finest scenes and fairest flowers would move him
Less than a horse-shoe picked up in the way.
And righteous words for sin of every kind;
Alas, that the transgressor and transgression
Were linked so closely in his honest mind!
And naught but weakness in a fond caress,
And pitied men whose views of Christian duty
Allowed indulgence in such foolishness.
And I am told that when his Charley died,
Nor nature’s need nor gentle words could win him
From his fond vigils at the sleeper’s side.
They found fresh dew-drops sprinkled in his hair,
And on his breast a rose-bud gathered early,
And guessed, but did not know, who placed it there.
Strictly attendant on the means of grace,
Instant in prayer, and fearful most of falling,
Old Daniel Gray was always in his place.
He thought that in some strange, unlooked for way
His mighty Friend in Heaven, the great Redeemer,
Would honor him with wealth some golden day.
Until in death his patient eye grew dim,
And his Redeemer called him to inherit
The heaven of wealth long garnered up for him.
For whose sweet rest I humbly hope and pray,
In the great company of the forgiven
I shall be sure to find old Daniel Gray.