The Mourners Came at Break of Day

The mourn­ers came at break of day;

Unto the gar­den se­pul­cher;

With dark­ened hearts to weep and pray

For Him

the loved one bur­ied there.

What ra­di­ant light dis­pels the gloom?

An an­gel sits be­side the tomb.

The earth doth mourn her trea­sures lost

All se­pul­chered be­neath the snow;

When win­try winds

and chill­ing frost

Have laid her sum­mer glo­ries low:

The spring re­turns

the flow­er­ets bloom—

An an­gel sits be­side the tomb.

Then mourn we not be­lov­èd dead

E’en while we come to weep and pray;

The hap­py spir­it far hath fled

To bright­er realms of end­less day:

Immortal hope dis­pels the gloom!

An ang­el sits be­side the tomb.