"I Am Weary and Faint in the Battle of Life" (23 Sep 1870)
Song and Chorus.
Words by P. S. Pennell Esq.
Music by Joseph Philbrick Webster, 1819-1875

1.
I am weary and faint in the battle of life,
  And the lone autumn shadows appear,
When I wander away from the world's busy strife,
  To reflect by the tomb of the year,
Where the loving and loved lie in dreamless repose,
  Whom the angel hath gathered to rest,
Where the warm summer rain and the cold winter snows,
  Fall alike on the graves of the blest.

CHORUS
O mourn not, and weep not, for death cannot sever,
The friends whom He joined for all time and forever,
And blessed are they who forgetting us never,
Are waiting to welcome us over the river.

2.
Who, oh why should we mourn for the loved that are gone,
  To the land of a winterless year,
Where the lilies and roses eternally bloom,
  And the smile never turns to a tear?
Their frail bark is now moored on the opposite side,
  And her name is The Angel of Bliss,
Though the waters were dark and the river seem'd wide,
  Still she bore them safe over from this.

(CHORUS)

3.
But I ask for a sign when The Angel will come,
  O're the lone mystic river for me,
And a low whispered sound from the distant unknown,
  Softly answers "She's coming for thee."
When the Summer lies shorn of her garlands of green,
  And the sunset's deep crimson and gold,
Are empurpling life's valley, rock mountain and stream,
  With such views as the bard never told.

(CHORUS)

4.
Then O Father! be with me the tempest to brave,
  Of Thy mercy pray grant me rich store,
To dispel the dark mist that hangs over the wave,
  And obscures from my vision that shore.
Though the billows may foam and the river be wide,
  I shall not faint with Thee at the helm,
When the Angel shall glide o'er the mystical tide,
  Bearing me to that Beautiful Realm.

(CHORUS)