| J. C. Squire, ed. A Book of Women’s Verse. 1921. | | | | One Sweetly Solemn Thought | | By Phoebe Cary (1824–1871) |
| | | ONE sweetly solemn thought | |
| Comes to me o’er and o’er; | |
| I am nearer home to-day | |
| Than I ever have been before; | |
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| Nearer my Father’s house, | 5 |
| Where the many mansions be; | |
| Nearer the great white throne, | |
| Nearer the crystal sea; | |
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| Nearer the bound of life, | |
| Where we lay our burdens down; | 10 |
| Nearer leaving the cross, | |
| Nearer gaining the crown! | |
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| But lying darkly between, | |
| Winding down through the night, | |
| Is the silent, unknown stream, | 15 |
| That leads at last to the light. | |
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| Closer and closer my steps | |
| Come to the dread abysm: | |
| Closer Death to my lips | |
| Presses the awful chrism. | 20 |
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| Oh, if my mortal feet | |
| Have almost gained the brink; | |
| If it be I am nearer home | |
| Even to-day than I think; | |
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| Father, perfect my trust; | 25 |
| Let my spirit feel in death, | |
| That her feet are firmly set | |
| On the rock of a living faith. | | | | |
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