“Not Here”

Here is not the place of rest,
Where sin and sorrow reign;
Where sighs and tears show that the heart
Is filled with grief and pain;
Where strength and beauty fade away;
Where flowers bloom but to decay;
Where sweet emotions cannot stay,
But come to go again.

Now is not the time of rest,
While work is to be done;
While every moment hastens by,
And is for ever gone;
While souls are lying in the might
Of Satan, and the shade of night
Is threatening to quench the light
And leave our work undone.

There in yon firmament on high,
Amongst the good and blest,
Where angels sing and seraphs praise--
The brightest and the best--
There will our songs for ever rise
To God, the Object of all eyes,
There we will find in heavenly skies
The place and time to rest.