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Thus, Christian hope comforts and supports us in our sufferings dur¬ 
ing life; it even sweetens the cup of our afflictions. 
“Oh, no! it is no flattering lure, 
'No fancy weak or fond, 
When Hope would bid us rest secure 
In better Life beyond. 
Nor loss nor shame, nor grief nor sin, 
Her promise may gainsay; 
The Voice Divine hath spoke within, 
And God did ne'er betray.” 
—Sarah Flower Adams. 
Weeping Willow. 
“The willows weep 
Their stems in furry white.” 
—Helen Hunt. 
“The willow hangs with sheltering grace 
And benediction o’er their sod, 
And Nature, hushed, assures the soul 
They rest in God .” 
—Crammond Kennedy. 
“How canst thou ever sorrow’s emblem be ? 
Rather I deem thy slight and fragile form, - 
In mild endurance bending gracefully, 
Is like the tuounded heart, which ’mid the storm, 
Looks for the promised time which is to be, 
In pious confidence. Oh! thou shouldst wave 
Thy branches o’er the lowly martyr’s grave.” 
— Anon. 
