The Dying Christian to His Soul

by Alexander Pope


Original Language English

          Vital spark of heav'nly flame!
          Quit, O quit this mortal frame:
     Trembling, hoping, ling'ring, flying,
     O the pain, the bliss of dying!
Cease, fond Nature, cease thy strife,
And let me languish into life.

     Hark! they whisper; angels say,
     Sister Spirit, come away!
     What is this absorbs me quite?
     Steals my senses, shuts my sight,
Drowns my spirits, draws my breath?
Tell me, my soul, can this be death?

The world recedes; it disappears!
Heav'n opens on my eyes! my ears
     With sounds seraphic ring!
Lend, lend your wings! I mount! I fly!
O Grave! where is thy victory?
     O Death! where is thy sting?

-- from The Poems of Alexander Pope, by Alexander Pope / Edited by John Butt

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The Dying Christian