John Greenleaf Whittier (1807–1892)

O CHRIST of God! whose life and death

Our own have reconciled,

Most quietly, most tenderly

Take home Thy star-named child!

Thy grace is in her patient eyes,

Thy words are on her tongue;

The very silence round her seems

As if the angels sung.

Her smile is as a listening child’s

Who hears its mother call;

The lilies of Thy perfect peace

About her pillow fall.

She leans from out our clinging arms

To rest herself in Thine;

Alone to Thee, dear Lord, can we

Our well-beloved resign!

Oh, less for her than for ourselves

We bow our heads and pray;

Her setting star, like Bethlehem’s,

To Thee shall point the way!