Ecce, quam bonum
" Behold how good and joyful is this thing
When Brethren dwell as one in.unity.
For there the Lord of Love, in promising
His benediction, offers life again."
Thou gavest, Lord, the opportunity—
And one has earned Thy gift, and one must still attain.
One, dying, blessed the other with a look
Fulfilled with brotherly affection ; then
Murmured his name ; and then the blessing took
Of everlasting life—The other one
Heart-broken stayed, since broken hopes of men
Will wither in the shade, when sets their happy sun.
Yet surely 'twas a golden coronet
On forty years of confidence assured,
That memory recalled no sorrow set
In riven friendship, or in faith's decay ;
Down all her brimming bank Love's river poured
To where the ocean of God's consolation lay.