John Greenleaf Whittier

Vesta

O CHRIST of God! whose life and death
    Our own have reconciled,
Most quietly, most tenderly
    Take home thy star-named child!

Thy grace is in her patient eyes,
    Thy words are on her tongue;
The very silence round her seems
    As if the angels sung.

Her smile is as a listening child's
    Who hears its mother's call;
The lilies of Thy perfect peace
    About her pillow fall.

She leans from out our clinging arms
    To rest herself in Thine;
Alone to Thee, dear Lord, can we
    Our well-beloved resign.

O, less for her than for ourselves
    We bow our heads and pray;
Her setting star, like Bethlehem's,
    To Thee shall point the way!