Communion with a Saint Departed

Ah! my dear departed friend.
Can I cease remembering thee 'i
Must our sacred friendship end
With this life of misery?
From thy fleshly dungeon freed,
Dead to all thou lov'dst before,
Dead to me, entirely dead.
Shall I clasp thy soul no more?

Wherefore when we met below,
Touch'd with sympathy Divine,
Pleased its counterpart to know.
Flew my soul to mix with thine?
Blazed the pure expanded flame
Such as burns in those above;
Love pervaded all my frame —
Heavenly, everlasting love.

Winged with infinite desire
Wherefore doth my love remain.
If we at our death expire.
If we ne'er must meet again?
Say thou questionable shade,
Once so intimately dear,
Art thou far removed when dead?
None on earth is half so near.

Could the greedy grave devour
One whom I this moment feel
Lured by some mysterious power
To that world invisible!
Surely now her bhss I share,
Live her life which never dies:
Yes; my old companion there
Draws me after — to the skies!