Wenonah Stevens Abbott

"Today the journey is ended,I have worked out the mandates of fate;Naked, alone, undefended,I knock at the Uttermost Gate. Behind is life and its longing,Its trial, its trouble, its sorrow;Beyond is the Infinite Morning Of a day without a tomorrow. Go back to dust and decay,Body, grown weary and old;You are worthless to me from today—No longer my soul can you hold. I lay you down gladly forever For a life that is better than this;I go where partings ne'er sever You into oblivion's abyss. Lo, the gate swings wide at my knocking,Across endless reaches I see Lost friends with laughter come flocking To give a glad welcome to me. Farewell, the maze has been threaded,This is the ending of strife;Say not that death should be dreaded—'Tis but the beginning of life."