Patrick Regan has kindly shared the material from his George Heath site with readers of the Victorian Web, who may wish to consult the original.
Say, can it be, that those bright phantasies: —
The forms of beings, loved in days gone by,
(Our noble ones long passed into the sky;)
Those radiant visions, fair-eyed Fancy sees
When thought steals back in dreamy reveries:
Who, when the soul would linger and despond,
Breathe evermore that glorious thought, "beyond!"
Who, soft as moonlight falls on troubled seas,
Steal o'er the burden of our nightly dreams.
And soothe and nerve us when we need it most,
And point from earthly cares to Calvary's streams,
Say are they spirits of our loved and lost,
Lent for a time our angel-guards to be?
For oh! to deem them such, is sweet to me.
Last modified 3 September 2002