To an Orphan

“When thy father and mother forsake thee, then the LORD will take thee up.”

Forget not Him—forget not Him—
     Though Sorrow shades thy pathway now,
And grows life’s pleasant sunshine dim,
     Whose light made radiant once thy brow—
For He can soothe thine aching heart,
     And make thy wounded spirit whole;
His voice can bid the gloom depart
     That darkly gathers round thy soul.

Though Fortune may have sternly frowned,
     And crushed the budding hopes of youth—
Though Joy in Misery’s flood is drowned,
     And thou hast learned the bitter truth
That “Man is born to trouble here,”
     And sorrow is our mortal lot—
Yet still hope on—and though in fear,
     Forget Him not—forget Him not!

Though she who watched thine infant years
     In love that mothers only know,
May never wipe again thy tears,
     Nor soothe with gentlest voice thy wo—
Nor bend again above her girl
     To kiss the hot and throbbing bro,
Or wreath around her hand the curl
     That shadows o’er thy temple now—

And though that voice, whose every tone
     Was music to thy listening ear,
Hath from our earth for ever gone,
     No more to thrill thy spirit here—
Yet feel not that thou are all lonely,
     A torn branch from the parent vine—
For that blest balm which cometh only
     To the meek spirit, shall be thine!

Despair thou not, though icy chill
     The hand of Want on thee may press—
It never can—it never will
     Obscure thy spirit’s loveliness!
Though dark, perchance, hath been thy morn,
     And angry clouds have gathered o’er;
A brighter day for thee shall dawn
     And sorrow flee for evermore!

There is one heart which beats with thine—
     Which saddens when thine eye is sad—
Aches, when they spirit doth repine,
     And thrills with joy when thou art glad!
That lonely heart will love thee still,
     When falser ones have turned away;
Unchanged alike in joy or ill,
     Cling fondly unto thine for aye!

And when that heart, as soon it must,
     Lies mouldering beneath the sod,
Still there is ONE in whom to trust—
     The orphan’s FATHER and her GOD!
Forget not Him—forget not Him,
     And e’en on earth thou shalt be blessed;
And, when thy lamp of life is dim,
     His hand shall guide thee to thy rest!