O CHRIST of God! whose life and death <br /> Our own have reconciled, <br />Most quietly, most tenderly <br /> Take home thy star-named child! <br /> <br />Thy grace is in her patient eyes, <br /> Thy words are on her tongue; <br />The very silence round her seems <br /> As if the angels sung. <br /> <br />Her smile is as a listening child's <br /> Who hears its mother's call; <br />The lilies of Thy perfect peace <br /> About her pillow fall. <br /> <br />She leans from out our clinging arms <br /> To rest herself in Thine; <br />Alone to Thee, dear Lord, can we <br /> Our well-beloved resign. <br /> <br />O, less for her than for ourselves <br /> We bow our heads and pray; <br />Her setting star, like Bethlehem's, <br /> To Thee shall point the way!<br /><br />John Greenleaf Whittier<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/vesta/
