Poems (Sharpless)/"Our Angel Walks Still Behind Us and Bears Our Sorrows and Sins"

by Frances M. Sharpless

"Our angel walks still behind us and bears our sorrows and sins"

Yes, I'm walking in the shadow
 Of an angel form behind;—
And life's long and dreary meadow
 Stretcheth far and undefined;—
And my very heart grows lonely,
 As I'm toiling slowly on
 Towards the distant setting sun,
With His Presence near me only.

And no aspect wears this angel
 Of a cheerful kindly soul,
And no songs of high evangel
 From his pale lips ever roll.
No, the darkness of his wing
 Casts a shadow still before,
 And my heart throbs free no more,
Save in pang of suffering.

High the holy cross he beareth,
 Clear I see it on my way;—
And the crown of thorns he weareth
 Gathers thicker day by day.
From my hand the seeds I fling
 That are bearing thorns to him;
 'Tis no royal diadem,
Yet he wears it like a king.

He is mine—my guardian spirit,
 And my sins he bears for me;
And my sorrow would inherit
 Could our God e'er let this be.
But 'tis sadder, sadder far,
 Than if I alone should go
 With the evil that I do
On me, not on this lost star.

All alone we wander on,
 With our patient hope and trust,
With our heads bowed meekly down,
 And our feet amid the dust.
Nearer, day by day, we come,
 Where my sins shall be forgiven;
 And my angel in his Heaven
Find for both our native Home.