Edgefield Advertiser

I Am Dying.
The following beautiful poem we copy from the Memphis Bulletin. It is rarely we find such contributions to the columns of a newspaper. It is sweetly, beautifully sad :
Raise my pillow, husband dearest—
Faint and fainter comes my breath;
And these shadows stealing slowly,
Must, I know, be those of death.
Sit down close beside me, darling,
Let me clasp your warm strong hand,
Yours that ever has sustained me,
To the borders of this land.
For your God and mine our Father
Thence shall ever lead us on;
Where upon a throne eternal,
Sits His loved and only Son;
I've had visions and been dreaming
O'er the past of joy and pain;
Year by year I've wandered backward,
Till I was a child again.
Dreaming of girlhood, and the moment
When I stood your wife and bride,
How my heart thrilled with Love's triumph,
In that hour of woman's pride.
Dreaming of thee and all the earth-chords
That were firmly twined about my heart—
Oh! the bitter burning anguish,
When I first knew we must part.
It has past—and God has promised,
All thy footsteps to attend;
He that's more than friend or brother,
He'll be with you to the end.
" There's no shadow o'er the portals,
Leading to my heavenly home—
Christ has promised life immortal,
And 'tis He that bids me come.
When life's trials wait around thee,
And its chilling billows swell;
Thou'll thank heaven that I'm spared them,
Thou'll then feel that "all is well."
Bring our boys unto my bedside;
My last blessing let them keep—
But they're sleeping—do not wake them;
They'll learn soon enough to weep.
Tell them often of their mother,
Kiss them for me when they wake,
Lead them gently in life's pathway,
Love them doubly for my sake.
Clasp my hand still closer, darling,
This, the last night of my life;
For to-morrow I shall never
Answer, when you call me "wife."
Fare thee well, my noble husband,
Faint not 'neath the chast'ning rod;
Throw your strong arm round our children,
Keep them close to thee—and God.