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ONE sweetly solemn thought
   Comes to me o’er and o’er—
I’m nearer home today
    Than I have been before.
 
2  Nearer my Father’s house
    Where many mansions be,
Nearer the great white throne,
    Nearer the crystal sea.
 
3  Nearer the bound of life,
    Where burdens are laid down,
Where pilgrims end their road,
    And victors gain their crown.
 
4  But lying dark between,
    And winding through the night,
Rolls deep that unknown stream
    That leads at last to light.
 
5  O, if my mortal feet
    Have almost gained the brink,
If I am nearer home,
    Nearer than now I think . . .
 
6  Saviour, in Whom I trust,
    Perfect my feeble faith,
That I may bravely cross
    That unknown stream of death!
 
Phoebe Cary, 1824-71