How blest the righteous when he dies! <br />When sinks a weary soul to rest <br />How mildly beam the closing eyes! <br />How gently heaves the expiring breast! <br /> <br />So fades a summer cloud away; <br />So sinks the gale when storms are o'er; <br />So gently shuts the eye of day; <br />So dies a wave along the shore. <br /> <br />A holy quiet reigns around, <br />A calm which life nor death destroys; <br />Nothing disturbs that peace profound, <br />Which his unfettered soul enjoys. <br /> <br />Farewell, conflicting hopes and fears, <br />Where lights and shades alternate dwell! <br />How bright the unchanging morn appears! <br />Farewell, inconstant world, farewell! <br /> <br />Life's labour done, as sinks the clay, <br />Light from its load the spirit flies; <br />While heaven and earth combine to say, <br />How blest the righteous when he dies!<br /><br />Anna Laetitia Barbauld<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/how-blest-the-righteous-when-he-dies/
