Look Aloft

In the tem­pest of life

When the wave and the gale

Are around and above

If thy foot­ing should fail

If thine eye should grow dim

And thy cau­tion de­part

Look aloft! and be firm

And be fearl­ess of heart.

If the friend who em­braced

In pros­per­ity’s glow

With a smile for each joy

And a tear for each woe

Should be­tray thee

when sor­rows

Like clouds are ar­rayed

Look aloft to the friend­ship

Which nev­er shall fade.

Should the vi­sions which hope

Spreads in light to thine eye

Like the tints of the rain­bow

But bright­en to fly

Then turn

and through tears

Of re­pent­ant re­gret

Look aloft to the sun

That is nev­er to set.

Should the dear­est of earth

The son of thy heart

The wife of thy bo­som

In sor­row depart

Look aloft from the dark­ness

And dust of the tomb

To that soil where af­fect­ion

Is ev­er in bloom.

And oh

when death comes

In his ter­rors to cast

His fears on the fu­ture

His pall on the past

In that mo­ment of dark­ness

With hope in thy heart

And a smile in thine eye

Look aloft and de­part.