I have a bridge within my heart,
Known as the Bridge of Sighs;
It stretches from life's sunny part,
To where its darkness lies.
And when upon this bridge I stand,
To watch life's tide below,
Sad thoughts come from the shadowy land
And darken all its flow.
Then, as it winds its way along
To sorrow's bitter sea,
Oh! mournful as the spirit song
That upward floats to me.
A song which breathes of blessings dead,
Of friends and friendships flown;
And pleasures gone! their distant tread,
Now to an echo grown.
And hearing thus, beleaguering fears
Soon shut the present out;
While joy but in the past appears,
And in the future doubt.
Oh! often then will deeper grow
The night that round me lies;
I wish that life had run its flow,
Or never found its rise!
I have a bridge within my heart,
Known as the Bridge of Faith;
It spans, by a mysterious art,
The streams of life and death.
And when upon this bridge I stand,
To watch the tide below,
Sweet thoughts come from the sunny land
And brighten all its flow.
Then, as it winds its way along
Down to a distant sea,
Oh! pleasant is the spirit song
That upward floats to me.
A song of blessings never sere,
Of love "beyond compare,"
Of pleasures flowed from troublings here
To rise serenely there.
And, hearing thus, a peace divine
Soon shuts each sorrow out;
And all is hopeful and benign,
Where all was fear and doubt.
Oh! Often then will brighter grow
The light that round me lies,
I see from life's beclouded flow
A crystal stream arise.
Author Unknown
