William Baxter The Bethany Grave-Yard (1848)

FROM

THE

MILLENNIAL HARBINGER.

SERIES III.

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VOL. V. BETHANY, JULY, 1848. NO. VII.
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THE BETHANY GRAVE-YARD.

      Dear brother Campbell--I HAVE spent many sad sweet hours among the dwellings of the dead, and my silent and solemn communings have been by no means the most unprofitable moments of my life. The thoughts which such scenes waken are often tinged with melancholy; but it is a melancholy that I love to cherish: and if the following lines, written some years ago, at the quiet burial spot where so many dear to you sleep in the hope of a glorious resurrection, should cause the foot of a single stranger to wander there, and raise in his heart thoughts of heaven, or sooth the hearts of any of those who often seek that hallowed place, the object of the writer will be accomplished:--

Here, in this calm, sequester'd spot,
      Repose the silent dead;
And oft, at dewy eve, the tear
      Falls on their dreamless bed.

Here fond affection's streaming eye
      Will oft delight to turn,
To pour its silent tribute forth
      Upon the mould'ring urn;

And oft, when Spring's first flow'rets wake,
      From out their wint'ry bed,
The hands of guileless childhood shall
      Bestrew them o'er the dead.

Here age and youth together lie;
      The sire, the babe, are here;
The mother, sister, brother, friend,
      And all the heart holds dear.

At mem'ry's call these sainted forms
      Oft seem to hover nigh,
And whisper in the spirit's ear,
      "Come, meet us in the sky!"

And O! what thoughts come rushing in
      Upon the stricken heart,
While sweeter tones than those of earth,
      Thus call us to depart.

To meet them in those realms of light,
      Where, from all sorrow free,
The soul enjoys the glorious gift
      Of immortality!

In such a hallow'd spot as this,
      When earthly scenes shall close,
I'd gladly lay my weary head,
      And there find sweet repose.

WM. BAXTER.      

[The Millennial Harbinger (July 1848): 411.]

ABOUT THE ELECTRONIC EDITION

      William Baxter's "The Bethany Grave-Yard" was first published in The Millennial Harbinger, Third Series, Vol. 5, No. 7, July 1848. The electronic version of the letter and poem has been produced from the College Press reprint (1976) of The Millennial Harbinger, ed. Alexander Campbell (Bethany, VA: A. Campbell, 1848), pp. 411.

      Inconsistencies in spelling, capitalization, punctuation, and typography have been retained; however, corrections have been offered for misspellings and other accidental corruptions. Emendations are as follows:

            Printed Text [ Electronic Text
 -----------------------------------------------------------------------
 p. 411:    sky! [ sky!"

      Addenda and corrigenda are earnestly solicited.

Ernie Stefanik
Derry, PA

Created 19 June 1998.
Updated 28 June 2003.

William Baxter The Bethany Grave-Yard (1848)
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