Servant of God, well done! Rest from thy loved employ! The battle fought, the victory won, Enter thy Master's joy. | The voice at midnight came, He started up to hear; A mortal arrow pierced his frame, He fell,--but felt no fear. | Tranquil amidst alarms, It found him on the field, A veteran slumbering on his arms, Beneath his red-cross shield. | His sword was in his hand, Still warm with recent fight, Ready that moment, at command, Through rock and steel to smite. | It was a two-edged blade Of heavenly temper, keen; 331 And double were the wounds it made, Where'er it glanced between. | 'Twas death to sin,--'twas life To all who mourn'd for sin; It kindled and it silenced strife, Made war and peace within. | Oft with its fiery force His arm had quell'd the foe, And laid, resistless in his course, The alien armies low. | Bent on such glorious toils, The world to him was loss, Yet all his trophies, all his spoils, He hung upon the Cross. | At midnight came the cry, "To meet thy God prepare!" He woke,--and caught his Captain's eye; Then, strong in faith and prayer,-- | His spirit, with a bound, Left its encumbering clay; His tent, at sunrise, on the ground, A darken'd ruin lay. | The pains of death are past, Labour and sorrow cease; And life's long warfare closed at last, His soul is found in peace. | Soldier of Christ, well done! Praise be thy new employ; And while eternal ages run, Rest in thy Saviour's joy. | |