Prif Feirdd Eifionydd/Verses composed on the death of Mrs Ellis Nanney

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Prif Feirdd Eifionydd gan Edward David Rowlands

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Verses
Composed on hearing of the death of the late
benevolent and charitable Mrs. Ellis Nanney,
of Gwynfryn.

MAY not the friendly, and the tender heart,
The beautiful, the bounteous, and the wise,
For once escape the ever mortal dart?
Must cruel death dissolve the closest ties?

What is our life? What is the glory of man?
Are they not like the flower of the field?
It not our time in shortness like a span?
The great, the small, alike to death must yield.

The faithful Dorcas! she whose name we bless,
Rejoiced the widow and dispelled her fears,
Her footsteps cheered the children of distress,
Her death unseal'd the fountains of our tears.

Benevolence shone brightly in her eyes,
Her smile enhanced the bounties of her hand,
Her tender heart was formed to sympathise,
And spread the gifts bestowed at her command.

In all creation, I a God can see,
In characters as clear as shining light,
Yet in the mind affectionate and free,
I see his image eminently bright.

The scenes which erst were by her presence cheered
With clouds of sorrow now are overcast;
We look in vain for her to all endeared,
The unforgotten while our memories last.

No more she travels in this world of woe,
On angels' wings she soar'd to heaven above:
For all her griefs and sufferings here below,
She now is free in realms of perfect love.

The friend of the distrest is now no more,
Cold is the heart that never glowed in vain;
The sick and poor the loss of her deplore,
Too faint to hope to meet her like again.

The deep vale she passed without alarms,
She braved terrors of its deathly gloom,
Secure in the everlasting arms,
She entered where affliction never come.

Immanuel, the friend divine of man,
In the last struggle smil'd benignly down,
With steadfast faith in the redeeming plan,
She gained the prize—a never fading crown.