Yet no, lost child of more than mortal sires, Thy stranger bridegroom bears thee to his home, Where the stars light the AEsars' nuptial fires In Tina's azure dome; From the fierce wave the god's celestial wing Rapt thee aloft along the yielding air; With amaranths fresh from heaven's eternal spring, Bright Cupra[13] braids thy hair, Ah, in those halls for us thou wilt not mourn, Far are the AEsars' joys from human woe: But not the less forsaken and forlorn Those thou hast left below! Never, oh never more, shall we behold thee, The last spark dies upon the sacred hearth; Art thou less lost, though heavenly arms enfold thee-- Art thou less lost to earth? Slow swells the sorrowing Naeniae's chanted strain: Time, with slow flutes, our leaden footsteps keep; Sad earth, whate'er the happier heaven may gain, Hath but a loss to weep. THE CHRISTIAN FUNERAL HYMN Sing we Halleluiah--singing Halleluiah to the Three; Where, vain Death, oh, where thy stinging? Where, O Grave, thy victory? As a sun a soul hath risen, Rising from a stormy main; When a captive breaks the prison, Who but slaves would mourn the chain Fear for age subdued by trial, Heavy with the years of sin: When the sunlight leaves the dial, And the solemn shades begin;-- _Not_ for youth!--although the bosom With a sharper grief be wrung; For the May wind strews the blossom, And the angel takes the young! Saved from sins, while yet forgiven;-- From the joys that lead astray, From the earth at war with heaven, Soar, O happy soul, away! From the human love that fadeth, In the falsehood or the tomb; From the cloud that darkly shadeth; From the canker in the bloom; Thou hast pass'd to suns unsetting, Where the rainbow spans the flood, Where no moth the garb is fretting, Where no worm is in the bud. Let the arrow leave the quiver, It was fashioned but to soar; Let the wave pass from the river, Into ocean evermore! Mindful yet of mortal feeling, In thy fresh immortal birth; By the Virgin mother kneeling, Plead for those beloved on earth. Whisper them thou hast forsaken, "Woe but borders unbelief!" Comfort smiles in faith unshaken: Shall thy glory be their grief? Let one ray on them descending, From the prophet Future stream; Bliss is daylight never ending, Sorrow but a passing dream.