If I die first, dear love, 
  My mournful soul, made free, 
Shall sit at heaven's high portal, 
  To wait and watch for thee — 
To wait and watch for thee, love, 
  And through the deep, dark space 
To peer, with human longings, 
  For thy radiant face. 

'Mid all the stars of heaven, 
  One only shall I see, 
The Earth-star of my passion, 
  Half Heaven for holding thee —
All Heaven for holding thee, love, 
  And brightest of the spheres, 
By thy smile illumined, 
  And hallow'd by thy tears. 

If I die first, dear love. — 
  I feel that this shall be, 
For Heaven will not be Heaven 
  Until it's shared with thee, —
Until it's shared with thee, love,
  I'll linger at the gate, 
And be thy guardian angel, 
  To teach thee how to wait. 

And when thine hour shall come, 
  And through the yielding night 
I see thy happy spirit 
  Upsoaring, robed in light, 
Mine shall go forth to meet thee, 
  And, through th' eternal door, 
Pass in with thee, rejoicing, 
  Made one for evermore!