The Guardian Angel
From Heaven what fancy stole
The dream of some good spirit, aye at hand,
The seraph whispering to the exile soul
Tales of its native land?
Who to the cradle gave
The unseen watcher by the mother’s side,
Born with the birth, companion to the grave,
The holy angel-guide?
Is it a fable?—“No,”
I hear Love answer from the sunlit air,
“Still where my presence gilds the darkness—know
Life’s angel-guide is there?”
Is it a fable?—Hark,
Faith hymns from deeps beyond the palest star,
“I am the pilot to thy wandering bark,
Thy guide to shores afar.”
Is it a fable?—sweet
From wave, from air, from every forest tree,
The murmur spoke, “Each thing thine eyes can greet
An angel-guide can be.
“From myriads take thy choice,
In all that lives a guide to God is given;
Ever thou hear’st some angel guardian’s voice
When Nature speaks of Heaven!”