Full Lyrics
It is not the tear at this moment shed,
When the cold turf has just been laid o’er him,
That can tell how belov’d was the friend that’s fled,
Or how deep in our hearts we deplore him.
’Tis the tear, thro’ many a long day wept,
Thro ’ a life, by his loss all shaded;
‘Tis the one remembrance, fondly kept,
When all lighter griefs have faded.
Oh! thus shall we morn; and his memory’s light,
While it shines through our hearts, will improve them,
For worth shall look fairer, and truth more bright,
When we think how we lived but to love them!
And, as buried saints the grave perfume,
Where, fadeless, they’ve long been lying,
So our hearts shall borrow a sweet’ning bloom
From the image he left there in dying!
