I dreamed I drew my parting breath

I dreamed I drew my parting breath,
And fell, in sinking swoon of death,
To gulfs of utter night all chilly,
While woven hands held me close beneath.

And then, as thousand lights on shore,
The radiant forms I'd known before;
And growing sound of kindly voices,
And flood of light through an open door.

And, lo, at stern and prow there stands,
Close-veiled, an angel winged!--the sands
Beneath the shallop's keel wake music;
Folded am I by the piercëd hands!