Not Now, but Then by Helena Smith

Pacific Press Publishing Company · Mountain View, California · Jun 24, 1908

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 34, No. 26.

"Not Now, but Then."

By Helena Smith

O WHEN that friend that I have loved and leaned upon, When that kind hand shall fail, and that sweet smile be gone, And I can only dumbly kneel before Thy cross, With Thee my mute lips pleading to repay the loss, Then let me softly, sweetly hear amid the pain, When I shall cry, "Ah, shall I see that face again?" An angel whispering, "Not now, but then."

And when the whole world carelessly shall onward go, And pass me by, and mock at grief it does not know, The joyous laughter falling harshly on my ears, I'll pray, "May it not like my own be changed to tears, Those happy hearts not like my own be rent in twain;" And I shall cry, "When will they understand?" Again Let those sweet words suffice my soul, "Not now, but then."

O, bleeding, broken-hearted, whisper o'er and o'er, "Not now, but then." Dost thou not see that radiant shore, That shines beyond thy sorrow, and the mist of tears, That shines beyond the darkness of the lonely years? Think not thy tears were shed, thy prayers were plead in vain; O, see those patient lips smile from the cross again And as a father answer thee, "Not now, but then." HELENA SMITH.