Poems (Angier)/Mizpah

by Annie Lanman Angier

For works with similar titles, see Mizpah.

MIZPAH.

Mizpah! how this gentle word,
 By lips of Friendship spoken;
Can touch the heart's most tender chord,
 Like the sight of Love's last token,
Mizpah.

It softly knells the farewell hour,
 Yet tinges grief with gladness;
And blends with memory's rainbow hues,
 A sombre shade of sadness.
Mizpah.

Mizpah! in this watchword strong,
 The Past and Future meet;
While standing with wide open arms,
 The Present smiles the two to greet.
Mizpah.

Of hope and trust, this Mizpah breathes,
It rosebuds twines with Autumn leaves;
Then humbly asks a Higher Power,
To shield us both, when tempests lower.
Mizpah.

Mizpah! when life's end draws near,
How sweet this murmured prayer to hear—
"On either side the silent sea,
God watch between us, thee and me."
Mizpah.