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HYMNS
or
FAITH AND HOPE.
BT
HOEATIUS BOjStAR, D.D.,
KELSO,
AUTHOB OF THE u NIGHT OF WEEPING,'' M THE MOENING OF JOT,M ETO.
NEW YORK:
ROBERT CARTER & BROTHERS,
N a . 530 BROADWAY,
1864.
0 n t e tt t s .
DIVINE ORDER . 9
LEFT BEHIND 11
THE MEETING- PLACE 13
A STRANGER HERE 16
OCEAN TEACHINGS 20
NO MORE SEA 22
THE CHANGE 24
THE CLOUDLESS 26
THE HOME SICKNESS 28
THE LAND OF LIGHT 31
THE SEEN AND THE UNSEEN 33
ADVENT 39
DAWN 41
RETURN UNI .':! Y RES' 43
THE MORNING STAR 46
THINGS HOPED FOR 4*7
THROUGH DEATH TO LIFE. 50
HORA NOVISSIMA 53
THE NIGHT COMETH. 56
THE DAY AI TER ARMAGEDDON 58
REST YONDER 63
HOW LONG ! ^4
A LITTLE WHILE 66
NOT VERT FA. 69
THE EVERLASTING MEMORIAL 71
71 CONTENTS.
PAG
OUR ONE LIFE 74
THE CONSOLATION 76
THE REAL 78
NOT HERE , 80
NOT NOW 81
LIGHT'S TEACHINGS 82
EARTH'S BEAUTY 8G
THE NIGHT AND THE MORNING 87
HOPE OF DAY ... 88
DAY-SPRING 91
DUST TO DUST 94
ARISE AND DEPART 97
THE KINGDOM 100
NEWLY FALLEN ASLEEP 102
THE FLESH RESTING IN HOPE 107
REST 110
A PILGRIM'S SONG 112
QUIS SEPARABIT . 115
FAR BETTER 117
WANDERING DOWN 119
THE ROD 122
STRENGTH BY THE WAY 127
THE FEAST 128
THE STRANGER SEA-BIRD 129
hope defert;e:< . 132
THE BLANK 135
THE SLEEP OF THE BELOVED 136
THE LITTLE FLOCK 138
THE NAME OF NAMES 141
MINE ANT) THINE 144
ABIDE IN HIM. 145
THE Bl p 147
THE SIN-BEARER . ., 149
CONTEXTS. Vll
PAGB
THE SUBSTITUTE . . . 152
LOST BUT FOUXD 154
THE WORD KADI FLESH
THE DARKNESS AND THE LIGHT 15S
VOICE FROM GALILEE 159
A BETHLEHEM HYMN .... 160
THIS DO IN REMEMBRANCE OF ME 162
CHRIST OUR FEACE 164
GODS ISRAEL
the shadow of the cross
child's prayer 168
CHILD'S M0RNTN3 HYMN . . 1 69
TO M. L. B 171
THE TWO ERAS OF THE LAND 173
MARTYR'S HYMN
BUBSUM CORDA
THE REST-DAY
THE INNER CALM
THE DISBURDENING
COMPANIONSHIP 1S5
THE HEAVENLY SOWING
DISAPPOINTMENT
THE TIME TO MEET
GONE BEFORE 192
THE ELDER BROTHER , 194
LIFE FROM THE DEAD
EVER NEAR 197
IT IS FINISHED 19S
PRESS ON "200
LAUS DEO 202
CREATION
DESERT LILIES.
SUMMER GLADNESS
Vlll CONTENTS.
PAGB
THE FRIEND 212
THE BLANK 214
CHOOSE WELl 216
'TWAS I THAT DID IT 217
THE USEFUL LIFE 219
PASSING THROUGH 221
FORWARD. 223
NOTHING BETWEEN 226
FOLLOW THOU ME 228
VANITY 230
MACHPELAH 232
OLD WORDS 234
THE OLD JEW ON MOUNT MORIAH 237
THE SHEPHERDS5 PLAIN , 240
COME, LORD 246
THY WAY, NOT MINE 249
ALLELUIA 251
LIVE 253
THE MARTYR'S GRAVE 255
ALL WELL 258
LINKS 259
THE RESURRECTION OF THE JUST 262
THE PRAYER 263
THE CITY. . , 265
HYMNS OF FAITH AND HOPE.
DIVINE ORDER.
Tis first the true and then the beautiful,
Not first the beautiful and then the true ;
First the wild moor, with rock and reed and pool,
Then the gay garden, rich in scent and hue.
'Tis first the good and then the beautiful, —
Not first the beautiful and then the good ;
First the rough seed, sown in the rougher soil,
Then the flower-blossom, or the branching wood
Not first the glad and then the sorrowful, —
But first the sorrowful, and then the glad ;
Tears for -i day, — for earth of tears is full,
Then t\ e forget that we were ever sad.
10 DIVINE OTITVER
Not first the bright, and after that the dark, —
But first the dark, aud after that the bright ;
First the thick cloud, and then the rainbow's arc,
First the dark grave, then resurrection-light.
Tis first the night, — stern night of storm and war,—
Long nights of heavy clouds and veiled skies ;
Then the far sparkle of the Morning-star,
That bids the saints awake and dawn arise.
LEFT BEHIND.
Look at this starbeam ! I /'rib.
It has come down I
Xow it alight- unwearie on tl is earth,
Xor storm nor nig] its heavenly
glow.
Unbent blast,
Unfl air,
It sparkles out firom y<;<:i unmeasured vai
Bright 'mid the brightest, *mid the fairest fair.
Undreamed it reaches me ; but vet alone :
The thousand gay companions that took vring
Adong with it have perished one by
I >*ei space like blc - be spring.
Some to yon nearer orbs I their course,
Yon city's smoke has quenched a thousand more :
Myriads in yon dark cloud have spent their ft i
A few stray gleams are all that reach our shore.
12 LEFT BEHIND.
And with us ! How many, who began
Life's race with us, are dropping by the way ;
Losing themselves in darkness one by one,
From the glad goal departing wide astray !
When we shall reach the kingdom of the blest,
How few who started with us shall we find
Arriving or arrived, for glorious rest !
How many shall we mourn as left behind !*
u Pauci laeta arva tenenras." — Virgil JEneid, VL
THE MEETING-PLAGE. '
Where the faded flower shall freshen, —
Freshen never more to fade ;
Where the shaded sky shall brighten, —
Brighten never more to shade :
Where the sun-blaze never scorches ;
Where the star-beams cease to chill ;
Where no tempest stirs the echoes
Of the wood, or wave, or hill :
Where the morn shall wake in gladness,
And the moon the joy prolong,
Where the daylight dies in fragrance,
'Mid the burst of holy song :
Brother, we shall meet and rest
'Mid the holy and the blest !
Where no shadow shall bewilder,
Where life's vain parade is o'er,
WTiere the sleep of sin is broken,
And the dreamer dreams no more :
14 THE MEETING-PLACF.
Where the bond is never severed ; —
Partings, claspings, sob and moan,
Midnight waking, twilight weeping,
Heavy noontide, — ali are done :
Where the child has found its mother.
Where the mother Unas the child,
Where dear families are gathered,
That were scattered on the wild :
Brother, we shall meet and rest
'Mid the holy and the blest I
Where the hidden wound is healed,
Where the blighte:! light ;e-blooms,
Where the smitten heart the freshness
Of its buoyant youth resumes :
Where the love that here we lavish
On the withering leaves of time,
Shall have fadeless flowers to fix on
In an ever spring bright clime :
Where we find the joy of loving,
As we never loved before, —
Loving on, unchilled, unhindered,
Loving once and evermore :
Brother, we shall meet and rest,
'Mid the holy and the blest !
THE MEETING-PLACE. 15
Where a blasted world shall brighten
Underneath a bluer sphere,
And a softer, gentler sunshine
Shed its healing splendor here :
Where earth's barren vales shall blossom,
Puttino- on their robe of green,
And a purer, fairer Eden
Be where only wastes have been :
Where a King in kingly glory,
Such as earth has never known,
Shall assume the righteous see]
Claim and wear the holy cr<r
Brother, we shall mee,t and rest,
'Mid the holy and the blest,
A STRANGER HERE.
I miss the dear paternal dwelling,
Which mem'ry, still undimmed, recals,
A thousand early stories telling ;
I miss the venerable walls.
I miss the chamber of my childhood,
I miss the shade of boyhood's tree, —
The glen, the path, the cliff, the wild-wood,
The music of the well-known sea.
I miss the ivied haunt of moonlight,
I miss the forest and the stream,
I miss the fragrant grove of noonlight,
I miss our mountain's sunset gleam.
I miss the green slope, where, reposing,
I mused upon the near and far,
Marked, one by one, each floweret closing,
Watched, one by one, each opening star
A STRANGER HERE. 17
I miss the well-remernbered faces,
The voices, forms, of fresher days ;
Time ploughs not up these deep-drawn traces,
These lines no ages can erase.
I miss them all, for, unforgetting,
My spirit o'er the past still strays.
And, much its wasted years regretting,
It treads again these shaded ways.
I mourn not that each early token
Is now to me a faded flower,
Nor that the magic snare is broken
That held me with its mystic power.
I murmur not that now a stranger
I pass along the smiling earth ;
I know the suare, I dread the danger,
I hate the haunts, I shun the mirth.
My hopes are passing upward, onward,
And with my hopes my heart has gone ;
My eye is turning skyward, suuw,
Where glory brightens round yon throne*
2*
18 A STRANGER HERE.
My spirit seeks its dwelling yonder;
And fate fore-dates the joyful day
When these old skies shall cease to suxder
The one dear love-linked family.
Well-pleased I find years rolling o'er me,
And hear each day-time's measured tread ;
Far fewer clouds now stretch before me,
Behind me is the darkness spread.
And summer's suns are swiftly setting,
And life moves downward in their train,
And autumn dews are fondly wetting
The faded cheek of earth in x:
Deceinber moons are coldly waning,
And life w:(;h them is on the wane ;
Storm -laden skies with sad complaining,
Bend blackly o'er the unsmiiing main.
My future from my past unlinking.
Each dying year untwines the spell ;
The visible is swiftly sinking,
Uprises the invisible.
A STRANGER HERE. 19
To light, unchanging, and eter
From mists that sadden this bleak waste,
To scenes that smile for ever vernal,
From ^ini^i's blackening leaf I I.
Earth, what a sorro
None like it in the sha t : —
The sharpest throe that ever
Even tho' the briefest and the last !
I see the fair moon veil her lustre,
I see the sackcloth of the sun ;
The shrouding of each starry cluster,
The threefold woe of eanh begun.
I see the shadows of its sun-- : •»
And wrapped in the>e tn<r Avenger's form ,
I see the Armageddon-onset ;
But I shall be above the storm.
There comes the moaning and the signing.
There comes the hot tear's heavy Gall,
The thousand ao-onie< of dvino; ; —
But I shall be beyond them all.
OCEAN TEACHINGS.
" This great and wide sea." — Psalm civ. 25.
That rising storm ! It has awakened me ;
My slumbering spirit starts to life anew ;
That blinding spray-drift, how it falls upon me,
As on the weary flower the freshening dew.
That rugged rock -fringe that girds in the ocean,
And calls the foam from its translucent blue,
It seems to pour strange strength into my spirit, —
Strength for endurance, strength for conflict too.
And these bright ocean-birds, these billow-rangers,
The snowy-breasted, — each a winged wave —
They tell me how to joy in storm and dangers,
When surges whiten, or when whirlwinds rave.
And these green-stretching fields, these peaceful hol-
lows,
That hear the tempest, but take no alarm,
OCEAN TEACHINGS. 21
Has nor their placid verdure sweetly taught me
The peace within when all without is storm !
Ajid thou keen sun-flash, through the cloud-wreath
bursting,
Silvering the sea, the sward, the rock, the foam,
What light within me has thy pure gleam kindled \
'Tis from the land of light that thou art come.
And of the time how blithely art thou tolling.
When cloud and change and tempest shall take
wing ;
Each beam of thine prophetic of the glory.
Creation's daybreak, earth's long-promised spring,
Even thus it is, my God me daily teacheth
Sweet knowledge out of all I hear and see ;
Each object has a heavenly voice within it,
Each scene, however troubled, speaks to me.
For all upon this earth is broken beauty.
Yet out of all what strange, deep lessons rise i
Each hour is giving out its heaven-sent wisdom,
A message from the sea, the shore, the skies.
NO MORE SEA.
Kai f] dd/Moca ovk ianv en. — (Rev. xxl 1.)
Summer Ocean, idly washing
This grey rock on which I lean ;
Summer Ocean, broadly flashing
With thy hues of gold and green;
Gently swelling, wildly dashing
O'er yon island-studded scene ;
Summer Ocean, how F 11 miss thee, —
Miss the thunder of thy roar,
Miss the music of thy ripple,
Miss thy sorrow-soothing shore,-
Summer Ocean, how F 11 miss thee,
When " the sea shall be no more."
Summer Ocean, how I '11 miss thee,
As along thy strand I range ;
Or as here I sit and watch thee
In thy moods of endless change —
SO MORE SEA. 23
Mirthful moods of morning gladi:
Musing m iesa :
When the dyi ee.
And ama kiss thee,
And the crimson cloudlets press thee,
seems to bless thee !—
Summer Ocean, how I "11 miss thee, —
Miss the wonders of thy shore,
Miss the magic of thy grandeur,
When "the sea shall be no more !"
And vet sometimes in my musings,
When I think of what shall be ;
In the day of earth's new glory,
Still I seem to roam by thee.
As if all had not departed.
But the glory lingered still ;
As if that which made thee lovely,
Had remained unchangeable.
Only that which marred thy beauty,-— •
Only that had passed away,
Sullen wilds of Ocean-moorland,
Bloated features of decay.
Only that dark waste of waters,
24 NO MORE SEA.
Line ne' er fathomed, eve ne 'er scanned,
Only that shall shrink and vanish,
Yielding back the imprisoned land.
Yielding back earth's fertile hollows,
Long submerged and hidden plains ;
Giving up a thousand valleys,
Of the ancient world's domains.
Lea vino- still bright azure ranges,
"Winding round this rocky tower ;
Leaving still yon gem-bright island,
Sparkling like an ocean-flower.
Leaving still some placid stretches,
Where the sunbeams bathe at noon,
Leaving still some lake-like reaches,
Mirrors for the silver moon.
Only all of gloom and horror,
Idle wastes oi endless brine.
Haunts of darkness, storm, and danger,
These shall be no longer thine.
Backward ebbing, wave and ripple,
Wondrous scenes shall then disclose f
And, like earth's, the wastes of ocean
Then shall blossom as the rose.
THE CHANGE.
I love yon pale blue sky ; it is the floor
Of that glad home where I shall shortly be ;
A home from which I shall go out no more ;
From toil and grief and vanity set free.
I gaze upon yon everlasting arch.
Up which the bright stai - -nine ;
And as I mark them in fch Ly march,
I think how soon that jour.. mine !
Yon sflvei
In the still heaven — through you my pathway lies ;
Yon ragged mountain-peak — your top
Shall I behold beneath me, as I m
Not many life's slow-paci
Shaded with sorrow's melancholy hue ; —
Oh, what a glad ascending shal
Oh, what a pathway up yon starry blue !
3
26 THE CLOUDLESS.
A journey like Elijah's, swift and bright,
Caught gently upward to an early crown,
In heaven's own chariot of unblazing light,*
With death untested and the grave unknown.
THE CLOUDLESS.
No shadows yonder !
All light and song ;
Each day I wonder,
And say. How long
Shall time me sunder
From that dear throng f
No weeping yonder !
All fled away ;
While here I wander
Each weary day,
And sigh as I ponder
My long, long stay.
Qet(f) Tivpl nafjLfyarjQ. — Soph. Philoct
THE CLOUDLESS. 27
No partings yonder !
Time and space never
Again shall sunder ;
Hearts cannot sever ;
Dearer and fonder
Hands clasp for ever.*
None wanting yonder,
Bought by the Lamb I
All gathered under
The evergreen palm ;
Loud as night's thunder
Ascends the glad psalm.
* 'A ItiKpvv vefiovrat difiva. — Pindar. Olymp.
THE HOME SICKNESS,
" 0 ci vitas sancta, ci vitas speciosa, de lor) gin quo te saluto,
ad te clamo, te requiro." — Augustine, De Spir. et Anim.
And whence this weariness,
This gathering cloud of gloom ?
Whence this dull weight of loneliness,
These greedy cravings for the tomb ?
These greedier cravings for the hopes that lie
Beyond the tomb, beyond the things that die;
Beyond the smiles and joys that come and go,
Fevering the spirit with their fitful flow ;
Beyond the circle where the shadows fall ;
Within the region where my God is all.
It is not that I fear
To breast the storm or wrestle with the wave,
To swim the torrent or the blast to brave,
To toil or suffer in this day of strife
As He may will who gave this struggling lif —
But I am homesick !
THE SOME SICKNESS. 29
It is not that the c
Is heavier than this drooping frame can bear,
Or that I find no kind to share
The burden, which, in these last days of ill,
Seems to press heavier, sharper, sorer still, —
But I am homesick !
It is not that the snare
Is laid around for my unwary feet,
And that a thousand wily tempters greet
My slippery steps and lead me far astray
From that safe guidance of the narrow way, —
But I am homesick !
It is not that the path
Is rough and perilous, beset with foes,
Fiom the first step down to its weary close,
Strewn with the flint, the briar, and the thorn,
That wound my limbs and leave my raiment torn,
But I am homesick !
It is not that the sky
I-. darkly sad, and the unloving air
Chills me to fainting; and the clouds that there
3*
30 THE HOM^ SICKNESS.
Hang over me seem signal clouds unfurled,
Portending wrath to an unready world, —
But I am homesick !
It is not that the earth
Has grown less bright and fair, — that these grey
hills,
These ever-lapsing, ever-lulling rills,
And these breeze-haunted woods, that ocean clear,
Have now become less beautiful, less dear, —
But I am homesick !
Let me, then, weary be !
I shrink not, — murmur not ;
In all this homelessness I see
The Church's pilgrim-lot ;
Her lot until her absent Lord shall come,
And the long homel^p here, shall find a home.
Then no more weariness !
No gathering cloud of gloom ;
Then no dull weight of loneliness,
No greedy cravings for the tomb :
For death shall then be swallowed up of life,
And the glad victory shall end the strife !
THE L A X D OF LIGHT.
That clime is not like this dull clime of ours :
All, all is brightness there ;
A sweeter influence breathes around its flowers,
And a far milder
No calm below is like that calm above.
No region here is like that realm of love ;
Earth's softest spring ne'er shed so soft a light.
Earth's brightest summer never shone so bright.
That sky is not like this sad sky of ours.
Tinned with earth's chano-e and care :
No shadow dims it, and no rain- cloud lowers, —
No broken sunshine there !
One everlasting stretch of azure pours
Its stainless splendor o'er these sinless shores;
For there Jehovah shines with heavenly ray,
There Jesus reigns dispensing endless day.
32 THE LAND OF LIGHT.
Thosp dwellers there are not like earth,
No mortal stain they bear ;
And yet they seem of kindred blood and birth, —
Whence, and how came they there?
Earth was their native soil, from sin and shame,
Through tribulation they to glory cam :
Bond-slaves delivered from sin's crushing load,
Brands plucked from burning by the hand of God.
Those robes of theirs are not for these below ;
Xo angel's half so brig
Whence came that beauty, whence that living glow ?
Whence came
Washed in the blood of the atoning L
Fair as the light those robes of theirs became,
And now, all tears wiped off from every eye,
They wander where the freshest pastures lie,
Through all the nighties* clay of that unfading
skv !
THE SEEN AND THE UNSEEN.
Ox the Great Exhibition, 1851.
Ha ! yon burst of crystal splendor,
Sunlight, starlight, blent in one ;
Starlight set in arctic azure,
Suulio-ht from the burning zone !
Gold and silver, gems and marble,
All creation's jewel ry ;
Earth's uncovered waste of riches,
Treasures of the ancient sea.
Heir of glory,
What is that to thee and me ?
Iris and Aurora braided —
How the woven colors shine !
Snow-gleams from an Alpine summit,
Toich-light irom a spar-roofed mine.
84 THE SEEN AND THS UNSEEN.
Like Arabia's matchless palace,
Child of magic's strong decree,
One vast globe of living sapphire,
Floor, walls, columns, canopy.
Heir of glory,
What is that to thee and me ?
Fomis of beauty, shapes of wonder,
Trophies of triumphant toil ;
Never Athens, Koine, Palmyra,
Gazed on such a costly spoil.
Dazzling the bewildered vision,
More than princely pomp we see ;
What the blaze of the Alhambra,
Dome of emerald, to thee ?
Heir of glory,
What is that to thee and me ?
Farthest cities pour their riches,
Farthest empires muster here,
Ait her jubilee proclaiming
To the nations far and near.
THE BSEJ 35
From the crowd in i •
Science claims
This her temple, diamond -blazing,
Shrine of uer idol
Heir of glory,
What is that to thee and me .'
Listen to her tale of wonder,
Of her plastic, potent spell ;
?Tis a bio- *tory,
Yet she tells it fair and well.
She the gifted, gay magician,
Mistress of earth, air, and sea ;
This majestic apparition..
Offspring of her sorcery.
Heir of glory,
What is that to thee and me ?
What to that for which we 're waiting
Is this glittering earthly toy \
Heavenly glory, holy splendor,
Sum of grandeur, sum of joy.
36 THE SEEN AXT> THE UNSEEN.
Not the gems that time can tarnish,
Not the hues that dim and die,
Not the glow that cheats the lover,
Shaded with mortality.
Heir of glory,
That shall be for thee and me !
Not the light that leaves us darker,
Nor the gleams that come and go,
Not the mirth whose end is madness,
Not the joy whose fruit is woe ;
Not the notes that die at sunset,
Not the fashion of a day ;
But the everlasting beauty,
And the endless melody.
Heir of glory,
That shall be for thee and me 1
City of the pearl-bright portal ;
City of the jasper wall ;
City of the golden pavement ;
Seat of endless festival.
THE BSBK AND THE UHLEEN. 37
City of Jehovah, Salem,
City of etemity,
To thy bridal-hall of gladness,
From this prison would I fleo.
Heir of glory,
That shall be for tho.ii and me !
Ah ! with such strange spells around me,
Fairest of what earth calls fair,
How I nee'] thy fairer irir
To undo the syren snar
Lest the subtle serpent-tempter
Lure me with his radiant he ;
As if sin were sin no longer.
Life were no more vanity.
Heir of glory,
What is that to thee and me ?
Yes, I need thee, heavenly city,
My low spirit to upbear ;
Yes, I need thee — earth's enchantments
So beguile me with their glare.
4
38 THE SEEN AND THE UK SEEN.
Let me see thee, then these tetters
Break asunder ; I am free ;
Then this pomp no longer chains me ;
Faith has won the victory.
Heir of glory,
That shall be for ihee and me !
Soon where earthly beauty blinds not,
No excess of brilliance palls,
Salem, city of the holy,
We shall be within thy walls !
There, beside yon crystal riv
There, beneath life's wondrous tree,
There, with naught to cloud or sever-
Ever with the Lamb to be !
Heir of glory,
That shall be for thee and me !
ADVENT.
The Church has waited long
Her absent Lord to see ;
And still in loneliness she wai .
A friendless stranger she.
Age after age has gone,
Sun after sun has set,
And still in weeds of widowhood
She weeps a mourner yet.
Come, then, Lord Jesus, come !
Saint after saint on earth
Has lived, and loved, and died ;
And as they left us one by one.
We laid them side by side;
We laid them down to sleep,
But not in ho: e forlorn ;
We laid them but to rip
Till the last gloric
Came, then, Lord Jesus, com*
40 ADVENT.
The serpent's brood increase,
The powers of hell grow bold,
The conflict thickens, faith is low,
And love is waxing cold.
How long, 0 Lord our God,
Holy and true, and good,
Wilt Thou not judge Thy suffering Church,
Her sighs and tears and blood !
Come, then, Lord Jesus, come !
We long to hear Thy voice,
To see Thee face to face,
To share Thy crown and glory then,
As now we share Thy grace.
Should not the loving bride
The absent bridegroom mourn ?
Should she not wear the weeds of grief
Until her Lord return ?
Come, then, Lord Jesus, come
The whole creation groans,
And waits to hear that voice,
That shall restore her comeliness,
And make her wastes rejoice.
DAW 41
Come, Lord, ana wipe a
The curse, the stain,
And make this blighted worfd of ours
Thiue own fair woi
Come, then, Lord Jesus, come :
DAWN.
Light of the better moruing,
Shine down on me !
Sun of the brighter heaven,
Bid darkness flee !
Thy warmth impart
To this dull heart :
Pour in thy light,
And let this night
Be turned to day
By thy mild ray !
Lord Jesus, come ;
Thou day-star shine ;
Enlighten now
This soul of mine !
4*
42 DAWK.
Streaks of the better dawning
Break on my sight,
Fringing with silver edges
These clouds of night
Gems on morn's brow,
Glow, brightly glow,
Foretelling soon
The ascending noon,
Wakening this earth
To second birth,
When He shall come
To earth again,
Who comes to judge,
Who comes to reign*
RETURN 0 THY REST.
Cease, my bouI, thy strayii
Have th
Come, no mo
These vanities how vain !
Wander n >t again.
Thou hast found thy centre ;
Never more a
Now
- how vain !
Wai rain.
Thou hast res dwelling;
Saf . Bore
Fro:- ng
I ■
The^
Wander not again.
ii RETURN UNTO T rf x ivtt5T.
Tranquil hours now greet thee,
In thy calm abode ;
Gracious looks now meet thee,
From thy loving God.
These vanities how vain !
Wander not again.
See yon star, love-lighted,
Sparkles from on high ;
See yon hope, love -plighted,
Cheers thy heaviest sky.
These vanities how vain !
Wander not again.
Watch, my soul, the glory
Coming brightly up.
O'er yon forest hoary,
O'er yon mountain-top.
These vanities how vain !
Wander not again.
Tis the bridal morning ;
Rise, make no delay ;
RETURN UNTO THY REST. 45
Put on thine adorning,
Cast thy weeds away.
These vanities how vain !
Wander nor again.
Pierce these mists that blind thee.
Press to yonder prize,
Break the bonds that bind thee.
Ri^e, my soul, arise !
These vanities how vain I
Wander not agidn.
THE MORNING STAR.
There is a morning star, my soul,
There is a morning star ;
'Twill soon be near and bright, tho' now
It seems so dim and
And when time's stars have come and gone
And every mist of earth lias flown,
That better star shall
On this world's clouded sides,
To ver !
The night is well nigh spent, my soul,
The night is well nigh s
And soon above our heads shall shine
A glorious firmament :
A sky all glad, and pure, and bright.
The Lamb, once slain, its perfect light
A star without a cloud,
Whose light no mists enshroud,
Descending never.
*
THINGS HOPED FOR.
These are the crowds that we shall wear
When all thy saints are crowned ;
These are the palms that we shall bear
On yonder holy ground.
Far off as yet, reserved in heaven,
Above that veiling sky,
They sparkle, like the stars of even,
To hope's far-piercing eye.
These are the robes, unsoiled and white,
Which then we shall put on.
When, foremost 'rnong the sons of light,
We sit on yonder throne.
That city with the jewelled crest,
Like some new-lighted sun ;
A blaze of burning amethyst —
Ten thousand orbs in one; —
48 THINGS HOPED FOR.
That Lc the city oi the saints,
Where we so soon shall stand,
When we shall strike these desert-tents,
Auu quit this desert-sand.
These are the everlasting hills,
With snintnits bathed in day :
The slopes down which the living rills,
Soft-lapsing, take their way.
Fair vision ! how thy distant gleam
Brightens time's saddest hue ;
Far fairer than the fairest dream,
And yet so strangely true !
Fair vision ! how thou liftest up
The drooping brow and eye ;
With the calm joy of thy sure hope
Fixing our souls on high.
Thy light makes even the darkest page
In memory's scroll grow fair ;
Blanching the lines which tears and age
Had only deepened there.
THINGS HOPED FOR. 49
With thee in view, the rugged slope
Becomes a level way.
Smoothed by the magic of thy hope,
And gladdened by thy ray.
With thee m view, how poor appear
The world's most winning smiles;
Vain is the tempter's subtlest snare.
And vain hell's varied wiles.
Time's glory fades ; its beauty now
Has ceased to lure or blind ;
Each gay enchantment here below
Has lost its power to bind.
Then welcome toil, and care, and pain !
And welcome sorrow too !
All toil is rest, all grief is gain.
With such a prize in view.
Come crown and throne, come robe and palm !
Burst forth glad stream of pej
Come, holy city of the Lamb !
Rise, Sun of Righteousness !
5
&0 THROUGH DEATH TO LIFE.
When shall the clouds that veil thy rays
Forever be withdrawn •
Why dost thou tarry, day of days?
When shall thy gladness dawn I
THROUGH DEATH TO LIFE
The staT is not extinguished when it jets
Upon the dull horizon ; it but goes
To shine in other skies, then re-appear
In ours, as fresh as when it first arose.
The river is not lost, when, o'er the rock,
It pours its flood into the abyss below :
Its scattered force re-gathering from the shook,
It hastens onward, with yet fuller flow.
The bright sun dies not, when the shadowing orb
Of the eclipsing moon obscures its ray :
It still is shining on ; and soon to us
Will burst undimmed into the joy of day.
THROUGH DEATH TO LIFE. 51
The lily dies not. when both flower and leaf
Fade, and are strewed upon the chill sad ground ;
Gone down for shelter to its mother-earth,
"Twill rise, re-bloom, and 3 iragrauee
round.
The dew-drop dies not, when it leaves the rlower,
And passes upward on the bc-am of morn ;
It does but hide itself in light on h
To its loved rlower at twilight to return.
The fine gold has not perishe i, when the dame
Seizes upon it with consuming glow ;
In freshened splendor it eom< - ew.
To sparkle on the monarch's throne or brow.
Thus nothing dies, or only dies to live :
Star, stream, sun. flowei --drop, and the
gold ;
Rich goodly thing, instinct with buoyant hope.
Hastes to put on its purer, finer mould.
Thus in the quiet joy of kindly trust.
We bid each parting sain eu weH\
£2 THROUGH DEATH TO LIFE.
Weeping, yet smiling, we commit their dust
To the safe keeping oi the sclent cell.
Softly within that peaceful resting-
\Te lay their wearied limbs, and bid the clay
Press lightly on them tili the night be past.
And the far east give note of coming day.
The day of re-appearing ! how it speeds 1
He who is true and faithful speaks the word.
Then shall we ever be with th ve —
Then shall we be for ever \. i
The shout is heard; the archan.. se goes
forth :
The trumpet sounds; the deal awake and sin^r ;
The living put on glory : one g]
They hasten up to meet the:, coming King.
Short death and darkness ! Eudl, 1 light!
Short dimming ; endless shi ' n sphere,
Where all is incorruptible : —
The joy without th oile without the
tear.
HORA NOVISSIMA.
Far down the ages now.
Her joiirney well-nigh done,
The pilgrim Church pursues her way.
In haste to reach the crown.
The story of the past
Comes up before her view;
How well it seems to suit her still,
Old, and yet ever new.
'Tis the same stoiy still,
Of sin and weariness,
Of grace and love still flowing down
To pardon and to bless.
Tis the old sorrow still,
The briar and the thorn ;
And 'tis the same old solace yet —
The hope of coming morn.
54 HORA NOVISSIAIA.
No wider is the gate,
No broader is the way.
No smoother is the ancient path
That leads to light and day.
No lighter is the load
Beneath whose weight we cry.
No tamer grows the rebel flesh,
Nor less our enemy.
No sweeter is the cup,
Nor less our lot of ill ;
Twas tribulation ages since,
'Tis tribulation still.
No greener are the rocks.
No fresher flow the rills,
No roses in the wilds appear,
No vines upon the hills.
Still dark the sky above,
And sharp the desert air ,
'Tis wide, bleak desolation round,
And shadow everywhere.
HORA NOVISSIMA. 55
Dawn lingers on yon cliff;
But, ob, bow slow to spring!
Morning still nestles on yon wave,
Afraid to try its wing.
No slacker grows the fight.
No feebler is the foe,
No less the need of armor tried,
Of shield, and spear, and bow.
Nor less we feel the blank
Of earth's still absent King ;
Whose presence is of all our bliss
The everlasting spring.
Thus onward still we press,
Through evil and through good,
Through pain, and poverty, and want,
Through peril and through blood.
Still faithful to our God,
And to our Captain true ;
We follow where he leads the way,
The kino-dom in our view.
THE NIGHT COMETH
Time's sun is fast setting,
Its twilight is nigh,
Its evening is falling
In cloud o'er the sky,
Its shadows are stretching
In ominous gloom ;
Its midnight approaches,
The midnight of doom.
Then haste, sinner, haste, there is mercy for thee3
And wrath is preparing, — flee, lingerer, flee !
Rides forth the fierce- tempest
On the wing; of the cloud ;
The moan of the night-blast
Is fitful and loud ;
The mountains are heaving.
The forests are bowed,
The ocean is surging,
Earth gathers its shroud.
Then haste, sinner, haste, there is mercy for th ^e,
And wrath is preparing, — flee, lingerer, flee !
THE NIGHT COMETH. 57
The vision is nearing —
The Judge and the throne ! —
The voice of the Angel
Proclaims k* It is done."
On the whirl of the tempest
Its ruler shall come,
And the blaze of its glory
Flash out from its gloom, —
Then haste, sinner, haste, there is mercy for thee,
And wrath is preparing, — flee, lingerer, flee !
With clouds He is coming !
His people shall sing.
With gladness they hail him
Redeemer and King.
o
The iron rod wielding,
The rod of his ire,
He cometh to kindle
Earth's last fatal fire !
Then haste, sinner, haste, there is mercy for thee,
And wrath is preparing, — flee, lingerer, flee !
THE DAY AFTER ARMAGEDDON.
" They have blown the trumpet, but none goeth to the
battle."— Ezek. vii 14.
'Tis the summons to battle !
But the cry is unheard ;
The trumpet has spoken,
Not a warrior has stirred.
Hark,*^he summons to battle !
It has sounded again ;
Still louder and keener ; —
It has sounded in vain.
Yet a third time and shriller,
That war-note has blown ;
.But the answer that cometh
Is the echo alone.
THE DAY AFTER ARMAGEDDON. 59
'Tis the silence of silence !
Tower, tent, vale, and hill,
Field, forest, and highway, —
All soundless and still !
No challenge is lifted,
No signal unfurled ;
Tis man's dark hour of terror,
The awe of the world.
For the arm of Jehovah
Has been bared in its might,
And the sword of his vengeance
Has been burnished to smite.
Through the ridges of battle
His ploughshare has sped ;
And the tents of the living
Are the tombs of the dead.
The rude roar of millions
Is hushed in an hour ;
The array of the mighty
Is crushed in its power.
60 THE DAY AFTER ARMAGEDDU.N.
Twas man's proudest muster
Of sinew and steel :
His army of armies,
Mail-clad to the heel.
No sun had e'er dawned on
So fearful a day.
No trumpet had marshalled
So dread an array.
As if earth in her frenzy,
From each region afar,
Had poured forth her nations
For the shock of that war.
In the flush of their manhood,
In the bud of their prime.
In veteran ripeness, —
The men of each clime
Came thronging and rushing,
Like rivers in flood,
Defying the terrors
And vengeance of God.
THE DAY AFTER ARMAGEDDON. 61
For the ruler of darkness,
The God of this world,
Had summoned his armies,
His banner unfurled.
As the storm-cloud it gathered,
As the lightning it sped ;
As the mist it has vanished ; —
All is still as the dead.
Like the desert at midnight, —
Not a breath nor a beam ;
'Tis the silence of silence,
The dream of a dream.
Now, chains for the spoiler !
Dark and swift be his doom !
Thou hast troddeu the nations,—
Thy treading is come !
Earth, cease now thy wailing,
Thy wounds bleed no more ;
Lo, the curse is departing,
Thy sorrows are o'er !
6
62 THE DAT AFTER ARMAGEDDON.
Rise, daughter of Judah ;
Awake now and sing ;
It has come, the glad kingdom,
He has come, the great King !
Thy long night is ending
Of sorrow and wrong ;
For shame there is glory,
For weeping a song.
The new morn is dawning,
Bursts forth the new sun ;
The new verdure is smiling,
The new age is begun,
REST YONDER.
This is not ray place of resting,
Mine's a city yet to come:
Onward to it I am hasting —
On to my eternal home.
In it all is light and glory,
O'er it shines a nightless day ;
Every trace of sin's sad story.
All the curse, has passed away.
There the Lamb, oivr Shepherd, lends us.
By the streams of life along:
On the freshest pastures feeds us.
Turns our sighing into song.
Soon we pass this desert dreary,
Soon we bid farewell to pain ;
Never more be sad or weary.
Never, never sin again.
HOW LONG!
Do they still linger — these slow-treading ages ?
How long must we still bear their cold delay?
Streak after streak the glowing dawn presages ;
And yet it breaks not — the expected day !
Each tossing year, with prophet-lip. hath spoken,
" Prepare your praises, earth awake and sing !"
And yet yon dome of blue remains unbroken ;
No tidings yet of the descending King !
Darkness still darkens; nearer now and nearer
The lightnings gleam ; the sea's scorched billows
moan ;
And the sere leaf of earth is growing serer ;
Creation droops, and heaves a bitterer groan.
0 storm and earthquake, wind and warring thunder,
Your hour is coming ! One wild outburst more,
One other day of war, and wreck, and plunder ;
And then your desolating reign is o'er.
HOW LONG ! 65
These plains are not your battle-field for ever;
That glassy deep w made for you;
These mountains were not built for you t. hiver;
These buds are not for your rude hands to strew.
Flee and give back to earth its verdant gladness,
The early freshness of its un soiled dew ;
Take hence your sackcloth, with its stormy sadness ;
And let these wrinkled skies their youth renew.
Give back that day of days, the seven rh and fairest,
When, like a gem new-set, earth flung afar
Her glory, of creation's gems the rarest,
Sparkling in beauty to each kindred star.
Come back, thou holy love, so rudely banished,
When evil came, and hate, and fear, and wrong ;
Return, thou joyous light, so quickly vanished ;
Revive, thou life that death has quenched so long
Re-fix, re-knit the chain so harshly broken,
That bound this lower orb to yon bright heaven ;
Hang out on high the ever-golden token,
That tells of earth renewed and man forgiven.
3 A LITTLE WHILE.
Withdraw the veil that has for ages hidden
That upper kingdom from this nether sphere ;
Renew the fellowship so long forbidden ;
O God, thyself take up thy dwelling here !
A LITTLE WHILE.
Beyond the smiling and the weeping
I shall be soon ;
Beyond the waking and the sleeping,
Beyond the sowing and the reaping,
I shall be soon.
Love, rest, and home !
Sweet hope !
Lord, tarry not, but come.
Beyond the blooming and the fading,
I shall be soon ;
Beyond the shining and the shading,
Beyond the hoping and the dreading,
I shall be soon.
A LITTLE WHILE.
Love, rest, and home !
Sweet hope !
Lord, tarry no*, but come.
Beyond the rising and the setting
I shall be soon ;
Beyond the calming and the fretting,
Beyond remembering and forgetting,
I shall be soon,
Love, rest, and home !
Sweet hope !
Lord, tarry not, but come.
Beyond the gathering and the strowing
I shall be soon ;
Beyond the ebbing and the flowing,
Beyond the coming and the going,
I shall be soon.
Love, rest, and home !
Sweet hope !
Lord, tarry not, but come.
Beyond the parting and the meeting
I shall be soon.
68 A LITTLE WHILE.
Beyond the farewell and the greeting,
Beyond this pulse's fever-beating,
I shall he soon.
Love, rest, and home 1
Sweet hope !
Lord, tarry not, but come.
Beyond the frost-chain and the fever
I shall he soon ;
Beyond the rock- waste and the river.
Beyond the ever and the never,
I shall be soon.
Love, rest, and home !
Sweet hope !
Lord, tarry not, but come.
NOT VERY FAR.
Sorely, yon heaven, where angels see God's face,
Is not so distant as we deem
From this low earth ] Tis but a little space,
The narrow crossing of a slender stream ;
'Tis hut a veil, which winds might blow aside :
Fes, thes^? are all that us of earth divide,
From the blight dwelling of the glorified. —
The Land of which I dream !
These peaks are nearer heaven than earth below,
These hills are higher than they seem :
'Tis not the clouds they touch, nor the soft brow
Of the o'er-bending azure as we de
Tis the blue floor of heaven that they up-bear ;
And like .some old and wildly rugged stair,
They lite us to the land where ail is lair, —
The Land of which I dream !
Thes.j ocean-waves, in their unme ^P>
Are biigULcr, bluer, than thej seem :
70 NOT VERY FAR.
True image here of the celestial deep, —
Fed from the fulness of the unfailing stream, —
Heaven's glassy sea of everlasting rest,
With not a breath to stir its silent breast,
The sea that laves the land where all are blest, —
The Land of which I dream !
And these keen stars, the bridal gems of Mght,
Are purer, lovelier, than they seem ;
Filled from the inner fountain of deep light,
They pour down heaven's own beam ;
Clear-speaking from their throne of glorious blue,
In accents ever ancient, ever new,
Of the glad home above, beyond our view, —
The Land of which I dream!
This life of ours, these lingering years of earth,
Are briefer, swifter, than they seem ,
A little wThile, and the great second birth
Of time shall come, the prophet's ancient theme !
Then He, the King, the Judge at length shall come,
And for this desert, where we sadly roam,
Shall give the kingdom for our endless home, —
The Land of which 1 dream !
THE EVERLASTING MEMORIAL.
Up and away, like the dew of the morning,
Soaring from earth to its home in the sun, —
So let me steal away, gently and lovingly,
Only remembered by what I have done.
My name and my place and my tomb, all forgotten,
The brief race of time well and patiently run,
So let me pass away, peacefully, silently,
Only remembered by what I have done.
Gladly away from this toil would I hasten,
Up to the crown that for me has been won;
Uhthought of by man in rewards or in praises, —
Only remembered by what I have done.
Up and away, like the odors of sunset,
That sweeten the twilight as darkness comes on, —
my life,—
And I bur remem lone.
72 THE EVERLASTING MEMORIAL.
Yes, like the fragrance that wanders in freshness,
When the flowers that it came from are closed up
and gone, —
So wrould I be to this world's weary dwellers,
Only remembered by what I have done.
Needs there the praise of the love-written record,
The name and the epitaph graved on the stone ?
The things we have lived tor, — let them be our story,
We ourselves but remembered by what we have
done.
I need not be missed, if my life has been bearing
(As its summer and autumn moved silently on)
The bloom, and the fruit, and the seed of its season ;
I shall still be remembered by what I have done.
I need not be missed, if another succeed me,
To reap down those fields which in spring I have
sown ;
He who ploughed and who sowed is not missed by
the reaper,
He is only remembered by what he has done.
THE EVER LAS ISO MEMORIAL. 73
Not myself) but the truth that in life I have spoken,
Xot myself, but the se< 1 that in life I have sown,
Shall pass on to ages, — a I about me forgotten,
Save the truth I have spoken, the things I have
done.
So let my living be, so be my dying;
So let my name lie, uu blazoned, unknown;
Unpraised and unmissed. I shall still be remembered;
Yes, — but remembered by what I have done.
1
OUR ONE LIFE.
Tis not for man to trifle ! Life is brief,
And sin is here.
Our age is but the falling of a leaf,
A dropping tear.
We have no time to sport away the hours.
All must be earnest in a world like ours.
Not many lives, but only one have we, —
One, only one ; —
How sacred should that one life ever be —
That narrow span ! —
Day after day filled up with blessed toil,
Hour after hour still bringing in new spoil
Our being is no shadow of thin air,
No vacant dream,
No fable of the things that never were,
But only seem.
OUR ONE LIFE. 75
'Tis full of meaning as of mystery,
Though strange and solemn may that meaning be.
Our sorrows are no phantom of the night,
No idle tale ;
No cloud that floats along a sky of light,
On summer gale.
They are the true realities 01 earth.
Friends and companions even from our birth.
0 life below — how brief, and poor, and sad !
One heavy sigh.
0 life above — how long, how fair, and glad ;
An endless joy.
Oh, to be done with daily dying here ;
Oh, to begin the living in yon sphere !
O day of time, how dark ! O sky and earth.
How dull your hue ;
0 day of Christ — how bright ! 0 sky and earth,
Made fair and ne*w !
Come, better Eden, with thy fresher green ;
Come, brighter Salem, gladden all the scene !
THE CONSOLATION.
The storm has broken, and the heavy blast,
That stifled morn's free breath and shook its dew,
Is dying into sunshine ; and the last
Dull cloud has vanished from yon arch of blue.
I know it is but for a day ; the war
Must soon be waged again 'twixt earth and heaven ;
Another tempest will arise to mar
The tranquil beauty of the fragrant even.
And yet I joy as storm on storm awakes ; —
Not that I love the uproar or the gloom ;
But in each tempest over earth that breaks,
J count one fewer outburst yet to come.
No groan creation heaves is heaved in vain,
Nor e'er shall be repeated ; it is done.
Once heaved it never shall be heaved again ;
Earth's pangs and throes are lessening one by one.
THE CONSOLATION. 77
So falls the stroke of Borrow, and so springs
Strange joy and comfort from tbe very grief,
Even to the weariest sufferer ; so brings
Each heavy burden still its own relief.
One cross the less remains for me to bear ;
Already borne is that of yesterday";
That of to-day shall no to-morrow share ;
To-morrow's, with itself, shall pass away.
That which is added to the troubled past
Is taken from the future, whose sad store
Grows less and less each day, till soon the last
Dull wave of woe shall break upon our shore.
The storm that yesterday ploughed up the sea
Is buried now beneath its level blue ;
One storm the fewer now remains for me,
Ere sky and earth are made for ever new.
THE REAL.
There are no dreams beyond the tomb !
The night of dreams is o'er ;
'Tis only here they go and come,
On this dull, shadowy shore.
When we arise from off this restless couch
Of weariness and pain,
When death awakes us with his stony touch
Never to sleep again ;
Then shadows vanish ; the invisible
Rises before our view ;
On every side comes up the real,
The certain, and the true.
And when the morn of morns shall come,
The resurrection-day,
Then yet more real shall all become,
And shadows pass away.
THE REAL. 79
How true and great that world must be,
How false, how little this !
Man sees not what he seems to see,
He seems not what he is.
Here is the hollow and untrue ;
This is the night of dreams ;
Thickly o'erspread with mist and dew,
Earth is not what it seems.
Each morn is coming with its light,
To chase each shade and ill,
Then time's vain beauty shall take flight
Like rainbow from the hill.
And truth returneth from on high ;
Gone is the night of dreams,
Gone is the shadow and the lie, —
Earth shall be what it seems.
NOT HERE.
Softly the winds were fanning this fresh cheek,
When heeHless boyhood loved to dream and stray
I loved earth's skies, nor deemed them sad or bleak;
Its fields seemed still to breathe of joyous May.
I said, what better home shall this heart seek?
Here let me dwell for aye.
Cold winter smote, frosts nipped, sore tempests broke.
And the dark cloud shut out the beauteous day ;
The fair flower perished, and the blast's rude shock
Struck the strong pine, and swept its pride away ;
My fond dream passed, I said, as I awoke,
" I would not live alway."
Yet would I not turn back, nor faint, nor sigh,
Nor fhun the war, nor murmur at the doom ;
I see the beacon-light of yonder ?ky
Beyond the earth and sea — beyond the tomb I
And then I say, " O Saviour, ever nigh,
Light me through this cold gloom "
NOT NOW.
Days come and go,
In joy or woe ;
Days go and come,
In endless sum.
Only the eternal day
Shall come but never go
Only the eternal tide
Shall never ebb but flow.
0 long eternity.
My bouI goea forth to thee !
Suns set and rise
In these dull skies,
Suns rise and set,
Till men forget,
The day is at the door,
When they shall rise no more.
0 everlasting Sun,
Yrhose race is never run,
Be thou my endless light,
Then sua":1: I fear no night !
LIGHT'S TEACHINGS.
The light is ever silent ;
It calls up voices over sea and earth.
And fills the glowing air with harmonies,
The lark's gay chant, the note of forest-dove,
The lamb's quick bleat, and the bee's earnest hum,
The sea-bird's winged wail upon the wave.
It wakes the voice of childhood, soft and clear;
The city's noisy rush, the village-stir,
And the world's mighty murmur that bad sunk,
For a short hour, to sleep upon the down
That darkness spread for wearied liuabs and eyes.
But still it sounds not, speaks not, whispers not !
Not one faint throb of its vast pulse is heard
By creature-ear. How silent is the light!
Even when of old it wakened Memnon's lyre,
It breathed no music of its own ; and still,
When at sweet sunrise, on its golden wings,
It brings the melodies of dawn to man,
It scatters them in silence o'er the earth.
Liui; 83
The light is e\er silent ;
It sparkles on morn's million gems of dew
It flings itself into the shower of noon,
It weaves its gold into the cloud of sunset —
Yet not a sound is heard ; it dashes fall
On von broad rock, yet not answers ;
It lights in myriad drops upon the flower.
Yet not a blossom stirs, it does not move
The slightest film of floating gossamer,
WTrich the faint touch or insect's wing would shiver.
The light is ever silent ;
Most silent of all heavenly silences :
Not even the darkness stiller, nor so -till ;
Too swift for sound or speech, it rushes oli
Right through the vieldino- skies, a massive flood
Ot multitudinous beams ; an endless sea.
That flows but ebbs not, breaking on the shore
Of this dark earth, with never-ceasing wave,
Yet in its swiftest flow, or fullest spring-tide,
Giving less sound than does one falling blossom,
Which the May breeze lays lightly on the sward
Such let my life be here ;
Xot marked by noise but by success alone;
84 light's teachings.
Not known by bustle but by useful deeds,
Quiet and gentle, clear and fair as-light;
Yet full of its all-penetrating power,
Its silent but resistless influence ;
"Wasting no needless sound, yet ever working,
Hour after hour, upon a needy world.
SunshiDe is ever calm ;
There are no tempests in yon sea of beams,
That bright Pacific on whose peaceful bosom
All happy things come floating down to us.
Light has no hurricane, no angry blast,
No turbid torrent laying waste our plains.
Morn after morn goes by, and the fresh light,
Pours in upon the darkness, yet no storm
Awakes, no eddy stirs the tranquil glow ;
No crested billow rises, and no foam
Drifting along, tells of some tumult past.
Sunshine is ever strong ;
No blast can break or bend one single ray ;
In seven-fold strength it faces wave and wind
Heedless of their opposing turbulence,
It passes through them in its quiet power,
Unruffled, and unbroken, and unbent.
LIGI1 SINGS. 85
No might of armies, and no rage of storms,
Can turn aside one sunbeam from its path,
Or bate its speed, or force it back again
To the far fountain-head from whence it came.
Sunshine is ever pure ;
No art of man can rob it of its beauty,
Nor stain its unpolluted heavenliness.
It is the fairest, purest thing in nature,
Fit type of that fair heaven where all is pure,
And into which no evil thing can enter,
Where darkness comes not, where no shadow tails,
Where night and sin can have no dwelling-place.
Sunshine is ever joyous ;
Its birthplace is in yon bright orb which flings,
O'er cliff and vale its wealth • miles.
Each sunbeam seems the very soul of joy ;
No sadness soils it ; scattering gladsomeness,
Like a blight angel, onward still it moves.
The very churchyard brightens as the ray
Alights upon its tombstones, and the turf
Seems strangely heaving to the radiant glow,
As if fore-dating the expected sunrise,
When, Pt the first gleam of the Morning-Star
8
86 earth's beauty.
The faithful grave shall render up its treasure,
And sunshine, such as earth has never known,
Shall fill these skies with mirth, and smiles, and
beauty
Erasing each sad wrinkle from their brow,
Which the long curse had deeply graven there.
EARTH'S BEAUTY.
Where the wave murmurs not,
Where the gust eddies not,
W7here the stream rushes not,
Where the cliff shadows not,
Where the wood darkens not,
I would not be !
Bright tho' the heavens were,
Rich tho' the flowers there,
Sweet tho' the fragrant air,
And all as Eden fair,
Yet as a dweller there,
I would not be !
O wave, and breeze, and rill, and rock, and wood,
Was it not God himself that called you good ?
THE SIGHT AND THE MORNING
To dream a troubled dream, and then awaken
To the soft gladness of a summer
To dream ourselves alone, unloved, forsaken,
And tlien to wake 'mid smiles, and love, and joy ;
To look at evening on the storm's rude motion,
The cloudy tumult of the fretted deep ;
And then at day-burst upon that same ocean,
Soothed to the stillness of its stillest sleep —
So runs our course — so tells the church her story,
So to the end shall it be ever told ;
Brief shame on earth, but me the glory.
That wanes not, dims not, never T'
Lord Jesus, come, and end this troubled dreaming!
Dark shadows vanish, rosy twiligl
Morn of the true and real, burst forth, calm-beamin;
Day of the beautiful, arise, awake !
HOPE OF DAY.
Till the day dawn,
And the Day-star arise —
Father, 0 keep thy son,
Thy feeble, faithless one !
0 guide him through the waste,
Till the long gloom be past.
It is a night of fear ;
The path is rough and drear ;
Clouds frown, blasts rush along,
The tempests gather strong ;
Strange perils compass me,
Of flood, fire, rock, and sea ;
Yet I, in loneliness,
Would fain still onward press.
0 felt and known, but yet unseen, be nigh ;
O loved and longed-for, hear each hidden sigh ;
Leave me not, struggling thus, to sink and die.
Till the day dawn,
And the Day-star arise —
HOPE OF DAY. 89
O Saviour, let thy love,
Down -dropping- from above,
This withered soul renew
With thy rlower-freshening dew !
0 never-changing Friend,
My failing steps attend ;
Hold thou me up, and so
1 shall pass safely through.
Still keep me at thy side,
Thou who for me hast died ;
0 light me on my way.
My joy, my strength, my stay.
0 clasp me closer to thy pierced side,
Thou who for me the death of deaths hast died ;
Let not this staggering faith be too too sorely tried.
Till the day dawn,
And the Day-star arise—
Spirit of gentle love,
Thou tempest-calmiug dove,
Come, and within me dwell,
Come, and all gloom dispel.
Most blessed Comforter,
My weaiy footsteps cheer.
8*
90 HOPE OF DAY.
O light and lamp divine,
Upon my midnight shine,
Better than star or moon,
Brighter than day's bright noon,
O let thy joyous ray
Turn all my night to day.
When thou art absent, even my joy is sad,
When thou art with me, even my grief is glad ;
Let not thy silence now sorrow to sorrow add.
Till the day dawn,
And the Day-star arise —
Church of the living God,
Pursue thy upward road ;
Look not behind nor stray
From the well-trodden way.
Be not ashamed to bear
. Thy cross on earth, nor fear
Reproach and poverty,
For him who died for thee.
With girded loins press on,
Till the reward is wron.
Think of thy absent Lord,
Hold fast thy plighted word.
-,
i :g. 91
Doff not thy weeds of widowhood, nor fear
To let the world, thro' which thou passest, hear
The willow's cry, and a e the widow's faithful tear,
DAY-SPRING.
The loving morn is springing
From night's unloving gloom ;
And earth seems now arising
In beauty from the tomb,
See daylight far above us.
Tinging each cloudy wreath,
Ere it showers itself in splendor
Upon the plain beneath.
'Tis sparkling on the mountain-peak,
'Tis hurrying down the vale,
'Tis bursting thro' the forest-boughs,
'Tis freshening in the gale.
92 DAY-SPRING.
'Tis mingling with the rivers smile,
'Tis glistening in the dew,
'T is flinging tar its silver net.
O'er ocean's braided blue.
'Tis blushing o'er the meadow's gold,
?T is lighting on the flower,
Unfolding every gentle bud
To the gladness of the hour.
'Tis gilding the old ruin's moss,
T is gleaming from the spire ;
And thro' the crumbling window-shafts
It shoots its living fire.
'T is quivering in the village smoke
That curls the low roof o'er ;
It beats against the castle gate,
And at the cottage door.
O'er the church-yard it is resting-
On stone, and grass, and mould,
Giving voice to each grey tombstone,
As to Memnous harp of old.
DAY-SPRING. 93
O the gay burst of beauty
That is flushing over earth,
And calling forth its millions
To holy morning mirth !
Yet look we for a sunrise
More beautiful than this ;
And watch we for a dawning
Of purer light and bliss.
When a far fairer morning
O'er greener hills shall rise.
And a far fresher sunlight
Look down from bluer skies.
Is not creation weary \
Has sin not reigned too lono- ?
Hear, Lord, thy Church's pleading,
Come, end her day of wrong !
DUST TO DUST.
Dust receive thy kindred !
Earth take now thine own !
To thee this trust is rendered ;
In thee this seed is sown.
Guard the precious treasure,
Ever- faithful tomb !
Keep it all unruled,
Till the Master come.
Time's tide of change and uproar
Breaks above thy head ;
Feet of restless millions
O'er thy chambers tread.
Earthquakes, whirlwinds, tempests,
Tear the quivering ground ;
Voices, trumpets, thunders,
Fill the air around.
*T0 DUST. 95
DUST
Roar of raging bactle ;
Shout, and shriek, and wail,
Startle even the bravest,
Turn the fresh cheek pale.
Torrent rolled on torrent,
Bursts o'er bank and bar, —
Sweeping down our valleys,
Swells the rising war.
Billow meeting billow,
Beats the shattered strand,
Rousing ocean-echoes,
Shaking sea and land.
But these sounds of terror
Pierce not this low tomb ;
Nor break the happy slumbers
Of this quiet home.
Couch of the tranquil slumber
For the weary brow ;
Rest of the 'ng?
Take this loved one now.
96 DUST TO DUST.
Turf of the shaded church-yard,
Warder of the clay,
Watch the toil-worn sleeper,
Till the awaking* day.
Watch the well-loved sleeper,
Guard that placid form ;
Fold around it gently ;
Shield it from alarm.
Clasp it kindly, fondly,
To cherish, not destroy ;
Clasp it as the mother
Clasps her nestling joy.
Guard the precious treasure,
Ever faithful tomb ;
Keep it all unrined
Ti'I the Master come.
ARISE AND DEPART.
Brethren, arise,
Let us go hence !
Denied, polluted thus,
This is no home for us;
Till earth is purified,
We may not here abide.
We were not born for earth,—
The city of our birth,
The better paradise,
Is far above these skies.
Upward then let us soar,
Cleaving to dust no more !
Brethren, arise,
Let us go hence !
Death and the grave are here,
The sick-bed and the bier.
The children of the tomb
May love this kindred gloom ;
9
98 ARISE AND DEPART.
But we, the deathless band,
Must see the deathless land.
The mortal here may rove,
The immortal dwell above.
Here we can only die,
Let us ascend on high !
Brethren, arise,
Let us go hence !
For we are weary here.
The ever-falling tear,
The ever-swelling sigh,
The sorrow ever nigh,
The sin still flowing; on,
Creation's ceaseless groan,
The tumult near and far,
The universal war,
The sounds that never cease,^
These are our weariness !
Brethren, arise,
Let us go hence !
This is not our abode ;
Too far, too far from God !
ARISE AND DEPART. 99
The angels dwell not here ;
There falls not on the ear
The everlasting song,
From the celestial throne:.
'Tis discord here alone,
Earth's melody is gone ,
Her harp lies broken now ;
Her praise Las ceased to flow !
Brethren, arise,
Let us go hence !
The New Jerusalem,
Like a resplendent gem.
Sends down its heavenly light
Attracting our dull sight.
I see the bright ones wait
At each fair pearly gate ;
I hear their voices call ;
I see the jasper wall,
The clear translucent gold.
The glory all untold !
Brethren, arise,
Let us o;o hence !
100 THE KINGDOM.
What are earth's joys and gems,
What are its diadems ?
Our crowns are waiting us
Within our Father's house.
Our friends above the skies
Are bidding us arise ;
Our Lord, he calls away
To scenes of sweeter day
Than this sad earth can know.
Let us arise and £0 !
THE KINGDOM.
Peace ! earth's last battle has been won ;
Its days of conflict now are o'er ;
The Prince of peace ascends the throne,
And war has ceased from shore to shore.
Rest ! the world's day of toil is past ;
Each storm is hushed above, below,
Creation's joy has come at last.
After six thousand years of woe.
THE KINGDOM. 101
Messiah reigns ! earth's king has come !
Its diadems are on his brow,
Its rebel kingdoms have become
His everlasting kingdom now.
This earth again is Paradise ;
The desert blossoms as the rose ;
Clothed in its robes of bridal bliss,
Creation has forgot its woes.
O, long-expected, absent long,
Star of creation's troubled gloom !
Let heaven and earth break forth in song,
Messiah ! Saviour ! art thou come ?
For thou hast bought us with thy blood,
And thou wast slain to set us free ;
Thou mad'st us kings and priests to God,
And we shall reign on earth with thee !
9*
NEWLY FALLEN ASLEEP
Past all paiu for ever,
Done with sickness now ;
Let me close thine eyes, mother,
Let me smooth thy brow.
Rest and health and gladness, —
These thy portions now ;
Let me press thy band, mother,
Let me kiss thy brow.
Eyes that shall never weep,
Life's tears all shed,
Its farewells said, —
These shall be thine !
All well with thee ;
O, would that they were mine !
A brow without a shade,
Each wrinkle smoothed,
Each throbbing soothed,
NEWLY FALLEN ASLEEP. 103
That shall be thine !
All well with thee ;
O, would that it were mine !
A tongue that stammers not
In tuneful praise,
Through endless days.
That shall be thine !
All well with thee.
O would that it were mine !
A voice that trembles not ;
All quivering past,
Death's sigh the last, —
That shall be thine !
All well with thee ;
O, would that it were mine !
Limbs that shall never tire,
Nor ask to rest,
In service blest, —
These shall be thine !
All well with thee ;
O, would that they were mine !
104
NEWLY FALLEN ASLEEP.
A frame that cannot ache ;
Earth's labors done,
Life's battle won, —
That shall be thine !
All well with thee ;
O, would that it were mine !
A heart that flutters not ;
No timid throb,
No quick-breathed sob,«
That shall be thine !
All well with thee ;
0, would that it were mine I
A will that swerveth not
At frown or smile,
At threat or wile, —
That shall be thine !
All well with thee ;
0, would that it were mine !
A soul still upward bent
On higher flight,
With wing of light, —
NEWLY FALLEN ASLEEP. 105
That shall be thine !
All well with thee ;
O, would that it were mine !
Hours without fret or care ;
The race well run,
The prize well won, —
These shall be thine ?
All well with thee ;
0, would that they were mine !
Days without toil or grief;
Time's burdens borne
With strength well-worn, —
These shall be thine
All well with thee ;
O, would that they were mine !
Rest without broken dreams,
Or wakeful fears,
Or hidden tears,
That shall be thine ;
All well with thee ;
O, would that it were mine !
106 NEWLY FALLEN ASLEEP.
Life that shall fear no death,
God's life above,
Of light and love, —
That shall be thine !
All well with thee ;
O, would that it were mine !
Morn that shall light the tomb,
And call from dust
The slumbering just, —
That shall be thine !
All well with thee
O, would that it were mine !
THE FLESH RESTING IN HOPE.
" The grave is mine house : I have made my bed in the
darkness .... the clods of the valley shall be sweet unto
him."— Job xxvil 13, xi. 33
Lie down, frail body, here,
Earth has no fairer bed,
No gentler pillow to afford, —
Come, rest thy hoine-siek bead.
lie down, " vile body," * here,
Tbis mould is smoothly strown,
No couch of flowers more softly spre^d,-
Come, make this grave thine own.
Lie down with all thy aches,
There is no aching here ;
How soon shall all thy life-long ills
For ever disappear.
* Phil. ih. 21.
108
THE FLESH RESTING IN HOPE.
Thro' these well-guarded gates
No foe can entrance gain ;
No sickness wastes, nor once intrudes
The memory of pain.
The tossings of the night,
The frettings of the day,
All end, and like a cloud of dawn,
Melt from thy skies away.
Foot-sore and worn thou art,
Breathless with toil and fight,
How welcome now the long-sought sleep
Of this all-tranquil night.
Brief night and quiet couch
In some star-lighted room,
Watched but by one beloved eye,
Whose light dispels all gloom ; —
A sky without a cloud,
A sea without a wave, —
These are but shadows of thy rest
In this thy peaceful grave.
THE FLESH RESTING IN HOPE. 109
Rest for the toiling hand,
Rest for the thought-worn brow,
Rest for the weary way-sore feet,
Rest from all labor now.
Rest for the fevered brain,
Rest for the throbbing eye ;
Thro' these parched lips of thine no more,
Shall pass the moan or sigh.
Soon shall the trump of God
Give out the welcome sound,
That shakes thy silent chamber-walls
And breaks the turf-sealed ground.
Ye dwellers in the Just
Awake, come forth and sing ;
Sharp has your frost of winter been,
But bright shall be your spring.
Twas sown in weakness here ;
'Twill then be raised in power.
That which was sown an earthly seed,
Shall 17 se a heavenly flower.
10
REST.
Not long, not long ! — The spirit-wasting fever
Of this strange life shall quit each throbbing vein ;
And this wild pulse flow placidly for ever ;
And endless peace relieve the burning brain.
Earth's joys are but a dream ; its destiny
Is but decay and death. P;s fairest form
Sunshine and shadow mixed. Its brightest day
A rainbow braided on the wreaths of storm.
Yet there is blessedness that changeth not ;
A rest with God, a life that cannot die ;
A better portion and a brighter lot ;
A home with Christ, a heritage on high.
Hope for the hopeless, for the weary, rest,
More gentle than the still repose of even !
Joy for the joyless, bliss for the unblest ;
Homes for the desolate in yonder heaven !
Ill
The tempest makes returning calm more dear ;
The darkest midnight makes the brightest star,
Even so to us when all is ended here,
Shall be the past, remembered from a:
Then welcome change and death ! Since these alone
Can break life's fetters, and dissolve its spell ;
Welcome all present change, which speeds us on
So swift to that ^hich is unchangeable.
A PILGRIM'S SONG.
A few more years shall roll,
A few more seasons come ;
And we shall be with those that rest,
Asleep within the tomb.
Then, O my Lord, prepare
My sonl for that great day ;
O wash me in thy precious blood,
And take my sins away.
A few more suns shall set
O'er these dark hills of time ;
And we shall be where suns are not,
A far serener clime.
Then, 0 my Lord, prepare
My soul for that blest day ;
O wash me in thy precious blood.
And take my sins away.
A few more storms shall beat
On this wild rocky shore ;
a pilgrim's song. 113
And we shall be where tempests cease,
And surges swell no more.
Then, O my Lord, prepare
My soul for that calm day ;
O wash me in thy precious blood, ■
And take my sins away.
A few more struggles here,
A few more partings o'er,
A few more toils, a few more tears,
And we shall weep no more.
Then, 0 my Lord, prepare
My soul for that blest day ;
O wash me in thy precious blood,
And take my sins away.
A few more Sabbaths here
Shall cheer us on our way ;
And we shall reach the endless rest,
The eternal Sabbath-day.*
* The old Latin hymn expresses this well :
"ULic nee sabbato
Succedit sabbatum,
Perpes laetitia
Sabbatizantium,
10*
114 a pilgrim's song.
Then, O my Lord, prepare
My soul for that sweet day ;
O wash me in thy precious blood,
And take my sins away.
'Tis but a little while
And He shall come again,
Who died that we might live, who lives
That we with Him may reign.
Then, O my Lord, prepare
My soul for that glad day ;
O wash me in thy precious blood,
And take my sins away.
QUIS SEPARABIT
'Tis thus they press the hand and part.
Thus have they bid farewell again ;
Yet still they commune, heart with heart,
Linked by a never-broken chain.
Still one in life and one in death,
One in their hope of rest above ;
One in their joy, their trust, their faith,
One in each other's faithful love.
Yet must they part, and parting, weep ;
What else has earth for them in store ?
These tare well pangs, how sharp and deep,
These farewell words, how sad and sore !
Yet shall they meet again in peace,
To sing the song of festal joy,
Where none shall bid their gladness cease,
And none their fellowship destroy.
116 QUIS SEPARABIT.
Where none shall beckon them away,
Nor bid their festival be done ;*
Their meeting-time the eternal day,
Their meeting-place the eternal throne.
There, hand in hand, firm linked at last,
And, heart to heart, enfolded all,
They '11 smile upon the troubled past,
And wonder why they wept at all.
Then let them press the hand and part,
The dearly loved, the fondly loving,
Still, still in spirit and in heart,
The undivided, unre moving.
* "Ibi festivitas sine fine." — Ausrustine.
FAR BETTER.
O safe at home, where the dark tempter roams not,
How I have envied thy far happier Lot !
Already resting where the evil comes not,
The tear, the toil, the woe, the sin forgot.
O safe in port, where the rough billow breaks not,
Where the wild sea-moan saddens thee no more ;
Where the remorseless stroke of tempest shakes not ; —
When, when shall I too gain that tranquil shore ?
0 bright, amid the brightness all eternal,
When shall I breathe with thee the purer air! —
Air of a land whose clime is ever vernal,
A land without a serpent or a snare.
Away, above the scenes of guilt and folly,
Beyond this desert's heat and dreariness,
Safe in the city of the ever-holy,
Let me make haste to join thy earlier bliss.
118 FAR BETTER.
Another battle fought, and oh, not lost —
Tells of the ending of this fight and thrall,
Another ridge of time's loue moorland crossed,
Gives nearer prospect oi the jasper wall.
Just gone within the veil, wh How,
Xot far before me, hardly out of sight —
I down beneath thee in this cloudj
And thou far up on yonder sunny height
Gone to begin a new and hi : iv.
Thy bitterer tale o Id and done:
These outer shadows for that inner glory
Exchanged for ever. — 0 thrice blessed one !
0 freed from fetters of this lonesome prison,
How I shall greet thee in thai days,
When He who died, yea rather who is risen,
Shall these frail frames from dust and darkness
raise.
WANDERING DOWN.
I am wandering down life's shady path,
Slowly, slowly, wandering down ;
I am wandering down life's rugged path,
Slowly, slowly, wandering down.
Morn, with its store of buds and dew,
Lies far behind me now ;
Morn, with its wealth of song and light,
Lies far behind me now.
'Tis the mellow flush of sunset now,
'T is the shadow and the cloud ;
'T is the dimness of the dying eve,
'T is the shadow and the cloud.
'Tis the dreamy haze of twilight now,
'T is the hour of silent trust ;
'Tis the solemn hue o skies,
'Tis the time of tranquil trust.
120
WANDERING DOWN.
The pleasant heights of breezy life,
The pleasant heights are past ;
The sunny slopes of buoyant life,
The sunny slopes are past
I shall rest in yon low valley soon,
There to sleep my toil away ;
I shall rest in yon sweet valley soon.
There to sleep my tears away.
One little hour will soothe away
Time's months of care and pain ;
One quiet hour will dream away
Time's years of care and pain.
Laid side by side with those I love,
How calm that rest shall be !
Laid side by side with those I love,
How soft that sleep shall be !
I shall rise and put on glory
When the great morn shall dawn ;
I shall rise and put on beauty
When the glad mom shall dawn.
WANDERING DOWN. 121
I shall mount to yon fair city,
The dwelling of the blest ;
I shall enter yon bright city,
The palace of the blest.
I shall meet the many parted ones,
In that one home of joy;
Lost love for ever found again,
In that dear home of joy.
We have shared our earthly sorrow,
Each with the other here ;
We shall share our heavenly gladness,
Each with the other there.
We have mingled tears together,
We shall mingle smiles and song ;
We have mingled sighs together,
We shall mingle smiles and song.
11
THE ROD.
I weep, but do not yield,
I mourn, yet still rebel ;
My inmost soul seems steeled^
Cold and immovable.
The wound is sharp and deep j
My spirit bleeds within ;
Ajid yet I lie asleep.
And still I sin, I sin.
My bruised soul complains
Of stripes without, within ;
I feel these piercing pains —
Yet still I sin, I sin.
O'er me the low cloud hung
Its weight of shade and fear ;
Unmoved I passed along.
And still my sin is here.
THE ROD. 123
Yon massive mountain-peak
The lightning rends at will ;
The rock can melt or break —
I am unbroken still.
My sky was once noon-bright,
My day was calm the while,
I loved the pleasant light,
The sunshine's happy smile.
I said, my God, oh, sure,
This love will kindle mine ;
Let but this calm endure,
Then all my heart is thine.
Alas, I knew it not ! —
The summer fluno* its o-old
Of sunshine o'er my lot,
And yet my heart was cold.
Trust me with prosperous days,
I said, 0 spare the rod :
Thee and thy love 1 11 praise,
My gracious, patient God.
124 THE ROD.
Must I be smitten, Lord ?
Are gentler measures vain t
Must I be smitten, Lord ?
Can nothing save but pain !
Thou trustedst me a while ;
Alas ! I was deceived ;
I revelled in the smile,
Yet to the dust I cleaved.
Then the fierce tempest broke,
I knew from whom it came,
I read in that sharp stroke
A father's hand and name.
And yet I did Thee wrong ;
Dark thoughts of Thee came in,-
A fro ward, selfish throng —
And I allowed the sin !
I did Thee wrong, my God,
I wronged thy truth and love,
I fretted at the rod,
Against thy power I strove.
THE ROD. 125
I said, my God, at length,
This stony heart remove,
Deny all other streu .
But give me strength to love.
Come nearer, nearer still,
Let not thy light depart ;
Bend, break this stubborn will,
Dissolve this iron heart.
Less wayward let me be,
More pliable and mild ;
In glad simplicity
More like a trustful child.
Less, less, of self each day,
And more, my God, of thee ;
0 keep me in the way,
However rough it be.
Less of the flesh each day,
Less of the world and sin ;
More of thy Son I pray,
More of Thyself within.
11*
126 THE ROD.
Riper and riper now,
Each hour let me become,
Less fit for scenes below,
More fit for such a home.
More moulded to Thy will.
Lord, let Thy servant be,
Higher and higher still,
Liker and liker thee.
Leave nought that is unmeet ;
Of all that is mine own
Strip me ; and so complete
My training for the throne*
STRENGTH BY THE WAY
Jesus, while this rough desert-soil
I tread, be Thou my guide and stay ;
Nerve roe for conflict and for toil ;
Uphold me on my stranger-way.
Jesus, in heaviness and fear,
'Mid cloud, and shade, and gloom I stray
For earth's last night is drawing near ;
O cheer me on my stranger-way.
Jesus, in solitude and grief^
When sun and stars withhold their ray,
Make haste, make haste to my relief;
O light me on my stranger-way.
Jesus, in weakness of this flesh,
When Satan grasps me for his prey;
0 give me victory afresh ;
And speed me on my stranger-way.
128
THE FEAST.
Jesus, my righteousness and strength,
My more than life, my more than day ;
Bring, bring deliverance at length ;
O come and end my stranger-way.
THE FEAST.
Love strong as death, nay stronger,
Love mightier than the grave ;
Broad as the earth, and longer
Than ocean's widest wave.
This is the love that sought us,
This is the love that bought us,
This is the love that brought us
To gladdest day from saddest night,
From deepest shame to glory bright,
From depths of death to life's fair height,
From darkness to the joy of light :
This is the love that leadeth
Us to his table here,
This is the love that spreadeth
For us this royal cheer.
THE STRANGEE SEA-BIRD.
Far from his breezy home of cliff and billow,
Yon sea-1 his wing;
Upon the tremulous bough of this stream-shading
willow
He stays his wandering.
Fanned by fresh leaves, an by blossoms
closi
His lullaby the stream,
A stranger, in bewildered loneliness reposing,
He dreams his ocean-dream : —
His dream of ocean-haunts, and ocean-brightness,
The -rock, the wave, the foam.
The blue "he sea-cloud's trail of
His onforgotten home.
130 THE STRANGER SEA-BIRD.
And he would fly, but cannot, for the shadows
Of night have barred his way ;
How could he search a path across these woods and
meadows
To his far sea-home spray J
Dark miles of thicket, swamp, and moorland dreary,
• Forbid his hopeless flight ;
With plumage soiled, eye dim, heart faint, and wing
all weary,
He waits for sun and lio'ht.
And I, in this far land, a timid stranger,
Resting by Time's lone stream,
Lie dreaming, hour by hour,, beset with night and
danger,
The Church's Patmos-dream :
The dream of home possessed, and all home's gladness,
Beyond these unknown hills,
Of solace after earth's sore days of stran ger-sadness,
Beside the eternal rills.
T1IE STRANGER SEA-BIRD. 131
Life's exile past, all told its broken story ;
Night, death, and evil gone ;
This more than Egypt-shame exchanged for Canaan-
glory*
And the bright city won !
Come them O Christ ! earth's Monarch and Redeemer,
Thy glorious Eden bring,
Where I, even L, at last, no more a trembling dreamer,
Shall fold my heavy wing.
HOPE DEFERRED.
How oft the morn has cheated us
As with unsleeping eye,
We lay upon our silent couch,
And watched the changing sky.
How often, as the heavy hours
Stole by with endless haste,
We've said, Ah now the dawn begins,
The weary night is past.
Hours went and came, but yet no streak
On eastern cloud or hill,
We looked in vain, no sign appeared,
'Twas niodit and silence still.
Twas but the starlight, not the sun,
The moonlight, not the day ;
We thought it was the dawn, but now
That dawn seems far away.
HOPE DEFERRED. 133
'Tis thus, beguiled with fond desire, ■
And sick with hope deferred,
The watching Church, with eager ear,
The well-known cry has heard : —
" He whom you look for is at hand,
Both hope and fear are done !"
No, 'tis not yet, — and still she waits
The still unrisen sun.
&ge after age, in love and faith,
She has with longing eye
Been watching every streak of dawn
In yon perplexing sky.
And shall she now give up her trust,
And turn her eye away,
As if there were no sun for her,
Xo hope of light and day i
She will not, for she knows how sure
The promise of her Lord ;
She will not, for she knows how true
Is the unchanging word.
12
134 HOPE DEFERRED.
The morn shall come ; nay He himself,
Brighter than morn's best ray,
Shall come to bid the night depart,
And bring at last the day.
Then shall the weary night-watch cease,
When, counting each lone hour,
She marked the shadows flitting by
The lattice of her tower.
Twas not in vain she kept the watch
When all around her slept ;
'Twas not in vain she waited thus,
And loved, and longed, and wept.
It dawns at last, the long-loved morn,
It comes, the meeting-day,
And in its joys shall be forgot
The sorrows of delay.
THE BLANK.
One flower may fill another's place,
With breath as sweet, with hues as glowing ;
One ripple in von ocean-space
Be lost amid another's flowing.
One star in von bright azure dome
May vanish from its sparkling cluster,
Unmissed, unmourned, and in its room
Some rival orb eclipse its lustre.
But who shall fill a brother's room ?
Or who shall soothe the bosom's grieving !
Who heal the heart around his tomb
Too faithfully, too fondly cleaving !
Can I supply youth's memories !
Or speak the words in childhood spoken ?
Can I re-knit the severed ties .5
Replace, retune the chord once broken ?
136 THE SLEEP OF THE BELOVED.
It is not here, it is not now,
That hearts are knit no more to sever ;
Grief's wrinkles razed from cheek and brow,
And life's long blanks filled up for ever.
THE SLEEP OF THE BELOVED
" So he giveth his beloved sleep." — Psalm cxxvii. 2.
Sunlight has vanished, and the weary earth
Lies resting from a loug day's toil and pain,
And, looking for a new dawn's early birth,
Seeks strength in slumber for its toil again.
We too would rest ; but ere we close the eye
Upon the consciousness of waking thought,
Would calmly turn it to yon star-bright sky,
And lift the soul to Him who slumbers not.
Above us is thy hand with tender care,
Distilling over us the dew of sleep :
THE - THE BELOVED. 1 -° 7
Darkness seem- loaded air,
In deep forgetfulness each s >p.
Thou hast provided mi ight's hour of peace,
Thou stretches: over us the v est ;
With more than all a y ■:
Foldest us sleeping to thy gen
Grief flies sway ; cai rack,
Till wakened by thy hand, when breaks the day —
Like the lone prophet by tl h, —
We rise to tread again our pilgrim-way.
God of our life !
Oh, keep us still tiii run !
Until there dawns the long, long f i light,
That knows no nigh I nor sun.
12*
THE LITTLE FLOCK.
A little flock ! So calls He thee,
"Who bought thee with his blood ;
A little flock — disowned of meu,
But owned and loved of God.
A little flock ! So calls He thee ;
Church of the first-born, hear !
Be not ashamed to own the name ;
It is no name of fear.
A little flock ! Yes, even so ;
A handful among men,
Such is the purpose of thy God ;
So willeth He ; Amen !
Not many rich or noble called,
Not many great or wise ;
They whom God makes his kings and priests,
Are poor in human eyes.
Tin: LITTLE FLOCK. 139
rting God,
rracious choice,
Lis earth
How feeble is thy v< !
Thy words ami 1 the words of earth,
How noiseless and how low !
Amid the hurrying ei - time,
Thy steps how calm and slow 1
But 'mid the wrinkled brows of earth
Thy brow how free from care ;
'Mid the flushed cheeks of riot here,
Thy cheek how pale and fair!
Amid the restless eyes or" earth,
How steadfast is thine eye,
Fixed on the silent loveliness
Of the far eastern sky.
A little flock !• Tis well, 'tis well ;
Such be her lot and name ;
Through ages past it has been bo,
And now 'tis still the same.
140 THE LITTLE FLOCK.
But the chief Shepherd comes at length
Her feeble days are o'er,
No more a handful in the earth,
A little flock no more.
No more a lily among thorns ;
Weary, and faint, and few,
But countless as the stars of heaven,
Or as the eariy dew.
Then entering the eternal halls,
In robes of victory,
That mighty multitude shall keep
The joyous jubilee.
Unfading palms they bear aloft,
Unfaltering songs they sing ;
Unending festival they keep,
In presence of the King.*
* Tuv dyyeXuv kclL tgjv ayluv dec iopra^'ovrov. — ATHA-
NASIUS.
THE NAME OF NAMES.
Father, thy Sou bath died
The sinner's death of woe ;
Stooping in love from heaven to earth,
Our curse to undergo ;
Our curse to undergo,
Upon the hateful tree.
Give glory to thy Son, 0 Lord,
Put honor on that Dame of names
By blessing me !
Father, thy Son hath borne
The sinnev's doom of shame ;
Bearing his cross without the gate,
He met the law's full claim ;
He met tlie law's full claim,
Sin's righteous penalty.
Give glory to thy Son, 0 Lord,
Put honor on that name of names
By pardoning me !
142
THE NAME OF NAMES.
Father, thy Sou hath poured
His life-blood ou this earth,
To cleanse away our guilt and stains,
To give us second birth ;
To give us second birth,
From sin to set us free.
Give glory to thy Son, 0 Lord,
Put honor on that name of namej
By cleansing me !
Father, thy Son hath risen,
Overcoming hell's dark powers ;
His surety-death was all for us,
His surety- life is ours ;
His surety-life is ours,
Ours, ours eternally.
Give glory to thy Son, O Lord,
Put honor on that name of names
By quickening me !
Father, thy Son to thee
Is now gone up on high,
Enthroned in heaven at thy right uand<
He reigns eternally ;
He reigns eternally,
THE NAME OF NAMES. 143
In might and I
Give glory to thy Son, 0 Lord.
Put honor on that name of names
By raising m
Father, thy Son on earth.
No one to own him found,
£Le passed among the sons of men
Rejected and disowned;
and disowned,
Thai we received might
Give Soi . 0 Lord.
Put honor on that name of names
By owning me !
Father, thy Son is king.
Heaven's crown and earth's is his;
For us. for us, he bought the crown.
For us he earned the bliss :
For us he earned the bliss.
Amen, so let it be !
Give glory to thy S n. 0 Lord.
Put honor on thai name of oai
By crowning me !
MINE AND THINE.
"Didicisti quod nihil tui boni prsecesserat, et gratia* Dei
oonversus es ad Deum." — Augustine.
All that I was — my sin, my guilt,
My death was all my own ;
All that I am, I owe to thee,
My gracious God alone.
The evil of my former state
Was mine and only mine ;
The good in which I now rejoice
Is thine and only thine.
The darkness of my former state,
The bondage all was mine ;
The light of life in which I *alk
The liberty is thine.
ABIDE IN HIM. 145
Thy grace first made me feel my sin.
It taught me to believe ;
Then, in believing peace I found,
And now I live, I live.
All that I am, even here on earth,
All that I hope to be,
When Jesus comes and glory dawns,
I owe it, Lord, to thee.
ABIDE IX HIM.
M Tecum volo vulnerari
Te libenter amplexari
In cruce dcsidero." — Old Hymx
Cling to the Crucified !
His death is life to thee, —
Life for eternity.
His pains thy pardon seal ;
His stripes thy bruises heal ;
His cross proclaims thy peace,
Bids every sorrow cease.
13
146 ABIDE IN HIM.
His blood is all to thee,
It purges thee from sin ;
It sets thy spirit free,
It keeps thy conscience clean
Cling to the Crucified !
Cling to the Crucified!
His is a heart of love,
Full as the hearts above ;
Its depths of sympathy
Are all awake for thee :
His countenance is light,
Even to the darkest night.
That love shall never change —
That light shall ne'er grow dim;
Charge thou thy faithless heart
To find its all in him.
Cling to the Crucified !
THE BELOVED SOX.
"This is my beloved Son, 'in whom I am well-pleased. "-
Matt., in. 17.
It is the Father's voice that cries
Mid the deep silence of the skies :
u This, this is my beloved Sod,
In Him I joy, in Him alone.
"In Him my equal see revealed,
In Him all righteousness fulfilled,
In Him, the Lamb, the victim see,
Bound, bleeding, dying on the tree.
M And can you fail to love again ?
Far fairer he than son- of me
EBs very name is fragrance poured,
Immanuel, Jesus, Saviour, Lord !
148 THE BELOVED SON.
"He died, and in his dying, proved
How much, how faithfully he loved ;
At my right hand, his glories shine ;
Is my beloved, sinner, thine V
O full of glory, full of grace,
Redeemer of a ruined race,
Beloved of the Father, come,
Make in these sinful hearts a home !
Beloved of the Father, thou,
To whom the saints and angels bow ;
Immanuel, Jesus, Saviour, come,
Make in these sinful hearts thy home S
THE SINBEARER.
" He was wounded for our transgressions ; He was bruised
for our iniquities."' — ISA., iii. 5.
Thy works, not mine, 0 Christ,
Speak gladness to this heart;
They tell me all is done ;
They bid my fear depart.
To whom save thee,
Who can alone
For sin atone,
Lord, shall I flee !
Thy pains, not mine, O Christ,
Upon the shameful tree,
Have paid the law's full price,
And purchased peace for me.
To whom, save thee, etc.
13*
150 THE SINBEARER.
Thy tears, not mine, 0 Christ,
Have wept my guilt away ;
And turned this night of mine
Into a blessed day.
To whom, save thee, etc.
Thy bonds, not mine, O Christ,
Unbind me of my chain,
And break my prison-doors,
Ne'er to be barred again.
To whom, save thee, etc.
Thy wounds, not mine, O Christ,
Can heal my bruised soul ;
Thy stripes, not mine, contain
The balm that makes me whole.
To whom, save thee, etc.
Thy blood, not mine, O Christ,
Thy blood so freely spilt,
Can blanch my blackest stains
And purge away my guilt.
To whom, save thee, etc.
THE SIXBEARER. 151
Thy cross, not mine, 0 Christ,
Has borne the awful load
Of sins that none in heaven
Or earth could God.
To whom, save thee, eta.
Thy death, not mine, 0 Christ,
Has paid the ransom due ;
Ten thousand deaths like mill .
Would have been all too few.
To whom, save thee, etc
Thy righteousness, 0 Christ,
Alone can cover me ;
No righteousness avails
Save that which is of thee.
To whom, save thee, etc.
Thy righteousness alone
Can clothe and beautify ;
I wrap it round my soul ;
In this Til live and die.
To whom, save thee, etc.
THE SUBSTITUTE,
* Jesu, plena caritate
Harms tuse perforatse
Laxent mea crimina ;
Latus tuum lanceatum,
Caput spinis coronatum,
Ha3c sint medicamina." — OldvHymn.
I lay my sins on Jesus,
The spotless Lamb of God ;
He bears them all and frees us
From the accursed load,
I bring my guilt to Jesus,
To wash my crimson stains
White in his blood most precious,
Till not a stain remains.
I lay my wants on Jesus ;
All fulness dwells in Him.
He heals all my diseases,
He doth my soul redeem.
THE SUBSTITUTE. 153
I lay my griefs on Jesus,
My burdens and my cares ;
He from them all releases,
He all my sorrows shares.
I rest my soul on Jesus,
This weary soul of mine ;
His right band me embraces,
I on bis breast recline.
I love the name of Jesus,
Immanuel, Christ, tbe Lord;
Like fragrance on tbe breezes,
His name abroad is poured.
I long to 1 e like Jesus,
Meek, loving, lowly, mild,
I long to be like Jesus,
Tbe Father's holy cbild.
I long to be with Jesus
Amid tbe heavenly throng,
To sing with saints his praises,
To learn the angel's song.
LOST BUT FOUND.
" Arte mira, miro consilio,
Quserens ovem suam summus opilio,
Ut nos revocaret ab exilio." — Old Hymn.
I was a wandering sheep,
I did not love the fold ;
I did not love my Shepherd's voice,
I would not be controlled.
I was a wayward child,
I did not love my home,
I did not love my father's voice,
I loved afar to roam.
The Shepherd sought his sheep,
The Father sought his child,
They followed me o'er vale and hill,
O'er deserts waste and wild.
They found me nigh to death,
Famished, and faint, and lone ;
lost but found, 156
They boon
They Bayed the w m leri
They spoke in tender lo
Hiey I :
They gently unds.
My fainl
They washed my filth a
TL ir ;
They B, —
Th :- -
Jesus my :
Twas He that loved my
Twas H^ that washed me in his blooi,
Twas He that made me whole.
Twas He that b
That found the wan
Twas He that brought me to the fold,
TSb He that still doth k
I was a wan
I would not be controlk
But now I love my Pa voice,
I love. I love the fold !
156
THE WORD MADE FLESH.
I was a wayward child ;
I once preferred to roam,
But now I love my Father's voice, —
I love, I love bis home !
THE WORD MADE FLESH.
u Ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though
he was rich, jet for your sakes he became poor, that ye
through his poverty might be rich." — 2 Cor., viii. 9.
Thb Son of God in mighty love,
Came down to Bethlehem for me ;
Forsook his throne of light above,
An infant upon earth to be.
In love, the Father's sinless child
Sojourned at Nazareth for me ;
With sinners dwelt the undefiled,
The Holy One in Galilee. '
Jesus, whom angel-hosts adore,
Became a man of griefs for me ;
In love, though rich, becoming poor,
That I through him enriched might be.
THE WORD MADE FLESH.
Though Lord of all, above, below.
He went to Olivet for roe ;
There drank: my cup of wrath and woe,
When bleeding in Gethsemane.
rhe ever-'
Went up to Calvary for me ;
There e my load,
In hit
Jesus, whose dwelling
Went down into the grave for me;
There overcame my
There wc
In love the whole dark path he trod,
To consecrate a way for me ;
Each bitter footstep marked with blood,
From Bethlehem to Calvary.
TRs finishc 1 aD : the v< D
The welcome sure. e ; —
Now then we leave our banishment,
O Father, to return to t.
14
THE DARKNESS AND THE LIGHT.
" Te were sometime darkness, but now ye are light in the
Lord." — Eph., y. 8.
" Let there be light," Jehovah said,
The beam awoke, the light obeyed ;
Bursting ou chaos dark and wild.
Till the glad earth and ocean smiled.
Formless and void, and dark as night,
My heart remained, till heavenly light,
Obedient to the word divine,
On my dark soul began to shine.
Light broke upon my rayless tomb,
The day-star rose upon my gloom ;
And with its gentle new-bom ray
Brightened my darkness into day.
Glory to Thee by all be given ;• —
Of light the light, in earth and heaven ;
Of joys the joy, of suns the sun,
Jesus, the Father's chosen One.
THE VOICE FROM GALILEE.
"Of "his fulness have all we received, and grace for grace."
-John, I 16.
I heard the voice of Jesus say,
Come unto me and rest ;
Lay clown, thou weary one, lay down
Thy head upon my breast.
I came to Jesus as I was,
Weary, and worn, and sad,
I found in Him a resting-place,
And He has made me glad.
I heard the voice of Jesus say,
Behold, I freely give
The living water, — thirsty one,
Stoop down, and drink, and live.
I came to Jesus and I drank
Of that life-giving stream,
My thirst was quenched, ray soul revived,
And now I live in Him.
160 BETHLEHEM HYMN.
I heard the voice of Jesus say,
I am this dark world's light,
Look unto me, thy morn shall rise
And all thy day be bright.
I looked to Jesus and I found
In Him, my Star, my Sun ;
And in that light of life I'll walk
Till travelling days are done.
A BETHLEHEM HYMN.
1 Kundum implens, in praesepio jacens." — Augustine.
He has come ! the Christ of God ; —
Left for us his glad abode ;
Stooping from his throne of bliss,
To this darksome wilderness.
He has come ! the Prince of Peace ; —
Come to bid our sorrows cease ;
Come to scatter, with his light,
All the shadows of our nio-ht.
BBTHLEHFM HYMN, 161
He the mighty King has come !
Making this poor earth his home ■
Come to bear sin's sad load ; —
Son of David, Son of God.
He has come, whose name of grace
Speaks deliverance to our race ;
Left for us his glad abode ;
Son of Mary, Son of God !
Unto us a child is born !
Ne'er has earth beheld a morn
Among all the morns of time,
Half so glorious in its prime.
Unto us a Son is given !
He has come from God's own heaven ;
Bringing with him from above,
Holy peace and holy love.
14*
THIS DO IX REMEMBRANCE OF ME.
Here, 0 my Lord, I see thee face to face ;
Here would I touch and handle things unseen ;
Here grasp with firmer band the eternal grace,
And all my weariness upon Thee lean.
Here would I feed upon the bread of God ;
Here drink with Thee the royal wine of heaven ;
Here would I lay aside each earthly load,
Here taste afresh the calm cf sin forgiven.
This is the hour of banquet and of song,
This is the heavenly table spread for me ;
Here let me feast, and, feasting, still prolong
The brief bright hour of fellowship with Thee.
Too soon we rise ; the symbols disappear ;
The feast, though not the love, is passed and gone.
The bread and wine remove, but Thou art here, —
Nearer than ever, — still my Shield and Sun.
THIS DO OF ME. 103
no help but thine ; dot do I need
Another arm save thine to lean upon.
It is enough, my Lord, enough, indeed ;
My strength is in ti — thy might alon^
T have no wisdom, save ii. Bim who is
My wisdom and my teacher, both in one ;
Xo wisdom cau I lack while Thou
Xo teaching do I crave, save lone.
Mine is the sin, but thine the rigbteousn
Mine is the guilr, but thine the cieansiug blood ;
Here is my robe, mj y peace, —
Thy blood, t' i my God.
T know that deadly evils compass me,
Dark perils threaten, yet I would not fear,
Nor poorly shrink, nor feebly turn to flee,—
Thou, O my Christ, art buckler, sword, and spear.
But see, the Pillar-cloud is rising now.
And moving onward through the desert-night;
It beckons, and I follow, for I know
It leads me to the heritage of light.
164 CHRrST OUR PEACE.
Feast after feast thus comes and passes by ;
Yet, passing, points to the glad feast above,
Giving sweet foretaste of the festal joy,
The Lamb's great bridal feast of bliss and love.
CHRIST OUR PEACE.
I thought upon my si us, and I was sad,
My soul was troubled sore and rilled with pain ;
But then I thought on Jesus and was glad,
My heavy grief was turned to joy again.
I thought upon the law, the fiery law,
Holy, and just, and good in its decree ;
I looked to Jesus, and in Him I saw
That law fulfilled, its curse endured for me.
I thought I saw an ano-ry frowning God
Sitting as Judge upon the great white throne ;
My soul was overwhelmed, — then Jesus showed
His gracious face, and all my :s gone.
CHRIST OUR PEACE. 165
I saw my sad estate, condemned to die,
Then terror seized my heart, and dark despair ;
But when to Calvary I turned mv eye,
I saw the cross, and read forgiveness there.
I saw that I was lost, far gone astray,
No hope of safe return there seemed to be ;
But then I heard that Jesus was the way,
A new and living way prepared tor me.
Then in that way, so free, so safe, so sure,
Sprinkled all o?er with reconciling blood,
Will I abide, and never wander more,
Walking along in fellowship with God.
GOD'S ISRAEL.
" Happy sons of Israel,
Who in pleasant Canaan dwell f
Happ\ they, but happier we,
If Jehovah's own we be.
Happy citizens who wait
Within Salem's hallowed gate ;
Happy they, but happier we
Who the heavenly Salem see.
Happy sons of Levi there,
Who within thy house of prayer
Always stand ; but happier we,
Day and night still praising Thee.
For Jerusalem above
Is the city that wre love ;
Jerusalem our home wre call, — '
Heavenly mother of us all.
The first two lines of the above are from the old translation
of the 66th Psalm by George Sandys,
THE SHADOW OF THE CROSS
Oppressed with noon-day's scorching heat,
To yonder cross I flee ;
Beneath its shelter take my seat ;
Xo shade like ibis for ine !
Beneath that cross clear waters burst
A fountain sparkling free ;
And there I quench my desert thirst ;
Xo spring like this for me !
A stranger here, I pitch my tent
Beneath this spreading tree ;
Here shall my pilgrim life be spent ;
No home like this for me !
For burdened ones a resting-place,
Beside that cross I see ;
Here I cast off my weariness ;
Xo rest like this for me !
CHILD'S PRAYER.
" They that seek me early shall find me." — Prov., viiL 17
Holy Father ! hear rny cry,
Holy Saviour ! bend thine ear,
Holy Spirit ! come thou nigh ;
Father, Saviour, Spirit, hear.
Father, save me from my sin,
Saviour, I thy mercy crave,
Gracious Spirit, make me clean ;
Father, Son, and Spirit save.
Father, let me taste thy love,
Saviour, fill my soul with peace,
Spirit, come my heart to move ;
Father, Son, and Spirit bless.
Father, Son, and Spirit — thou
One Jehovah, shed abroad
All thy grace within me now ;
Be my Father and my God.
CHILD'S MORNING HYMN.
" He wakeneth morning by morning ; he wakeneth mine
ear to hear.M — Is a., I 4.
The morning, the bright ana morning
Is up, and the sunshine is all on the wing,
With its fresh flush of gladness the landscape adorn-
ing—
A gladness which nothing but morning can bring.
The earth is awaking, the sky and tl
The river and forest, the mountain and plain ;
The city is stirring its living com motion.
And the puis- of the world
And we too awake, for our heaven.
Who b o o th h i s breast.
And made the soft stillness of evening to gather
Around us, now calls us again from our rest.
But ere to ou1: labors and duties retnrni
We hasten to give him the p: - is meet,
Ajid in solemn devotion, the first hours f morning,
Our freest and freshest, we lay at his feet.
15
170 child's morning hymn.
Then, happy in heart, not a moment delaying,
In the breeze of the dawning so pleasant and cool,
No loitering, no lingering, no trifling, no playing,
But eager and active, we haste to the school.
How sweet are its hours that shine o'er us so brightly ;
How pleasant its lessons, how short seems the day ;
Its hours are but moments, they fly off so lightly,
When we are so busy, so cheerful, and gay.
Then away to the school in the sweet summer morn-
ino*
God's blessing upon us, his light on our road ;
And let all the lessons we daily are learning,
Be only to bring us more surely to God.
O now, let us haste to our heavenly Father,
And ere the fair skies of life's dawning be dim,
Let us come with glad hearts, let us come altogether,
And the morn of our youth let us hallow to Him.
TO M. L. B.
No night descend on thee :
O'er thee no si me !
Bafe be thy rarney through
This vale of cloud and ltIooih
Daybreak be ever thine :
With fresh and rosy hours.
Calm sunshine of the morn.
Odors, and dews.
Light dwell in thee, and *
Dwell ever in the lifi
Xo wrinkle on thy I
Thine eye still bine and bright.
One long
With buds -till bur-ting through,
Fresh blossom- or,
And verdure fair and new.
172 TO M. L. B.
Peace be thy gentle guest,
Peace holy and divine ;
God's blessed sunlight still,
Upon thy pathway shine.
His Spirit fill thy soul,
And cast out every sin,
His own deep joy impart,
And make a heaven within.
THE TWO ERAS OF THE LAM).
Of old they sung the song of liberty,
They sung it upon mouLtain and on plain,
Till every echo of both land and sea
Pealed back the song again.
They poured it on the morning's genial gale,
It floated out upon the evening's calm,
And the rich stream-breeze from each fragrant vale
Gave back the song in balm.
The peasant sang it in his straw-roofed cot,
The noble sang it in his princely hall,
Till the vexed land, responding to the note,
Rose up at freedom's call.
The blithe blue mornings newly-wakened ray
Of cloudless summer coming freshly down,
Saw chains and bondage, tears and slavery,
The tyrant's sword and frown.
15*
174 THE TWO ERAS OF THE LAND.
The northern noonday saw the rising war,
Like sudden tempest on a wind-swept sea,
The shout rose upwards to the evening-star,
The land, the land is free !
Amid the oppressor's threats they planted high
The ancient flag of liberty,
That banner floats unthreatened to the sky, —
The Bruce hath set them free !
They sung the song of liberty again,
'Twas a still louder song than that of yore ;
It went like thunder-notes o'er hill and plain,
It woke each echoing shore.
It woke the heart of age and heedless youth,
It woke the spirit of the sleeping land,
It roused them to the voice of holy truth ;
Who could that voice withstand ?
Hear ye the truth, and hearing it, obey ;
Know ye the truth, the truth shall make you free ;
Love not the midnight, love the lightsome day,
That light is life and liberty.
TKi- : LAND. 1*75
The Free One makes you free ; lie breaks the rod,
He bids you lii'i your heads to sky and sun,
As freemen of the everlasting God,
Kneeling to Him alone.
The Free One makes you free ; be slaves to none,
Priest, prince, or self, in body or in soul ;
Serve thou with all thy strength thy God alone,
Yield but to His control.
The True One gives you truth ; a heritage,
Richer than that which kings may buy or sell,
For children's children to the farthest age ;
Guard thou that treasure well.
Round went the message, over rock and plain,
Like burning words from lips of prophet old,
Priest, king, and lord opposed the voice in vain,
It would not be controlled.
Wide o'er the land went forth the new born day,
Brightening alike the cot, the hall, the throne,
Long years of darkness vanish at its ray,
Ages of night have gone.
176 martyr's hymn.
The Christ has come, the breaker of all chains,
The giver of the heavenly liberty ;
Peace, light, and freedom to these hills and plains !-
The land, the land is free !
MARTYR'S HYMN.
"The glory of children are their fathers." — Prov., xvii. 6.
There was gladness in Zion, her standard was flying
Free o'er her battlements, glorious and. gay ;
All fair as the morning shone forth her adorning,
And fearful to foes was her godly array.
There is mourning in Zion, her standard is lying
Defiled in the dust, to the spoiler a prey ;
And now there is wailing, an I sorrow prevailing,
For the best of her children are weeded away.
The good have been taken, their place is forsaken ;
The man and the maiden, the green and the grey
The voice of the weepers wail over the sleepers,
The martyrs of Scotland that now are away !
martyr's hymn. 177
The hue of her waters is crimsoned with slaughters,
The blood of the martyrs has reddened the clay ;
And dark desolation broods over the nation,
For the faithful are perished, the good are away !
On the mountains of heather they slumber together ;
On the wastes of the moorland their bodies decay ;
How sound is their sleeping, how safe is their keeping,
Though far from their kindred they moulder away.
Their blessing shall hover, their children to cover,
Like the cloud of the desert, by night and by day,
Oh, never to perish, their names let us cherish.
The martyrs of Scotland that now are awav !
SCRSUM COEDA.
Go up, go up, my heart,
Dwell with thy God above ;
For here thou eaust not rest,
Nor here give out thy love.
Go up, go up, my heart,
Be not a trirler here ;
Ascend above these clouds,
Dwell iu a higher sphere.
Let not thy love flow out
To things so soiled and dim .
Go up to heaven and God,
Take up thy love to him.
Waste not thy precious stores
On creature-love below ;
To God that wealth belongs,
On him that wealth bestow.
THE REST-DAY. 1 78
Go up, reluctant heart,
Take op thy rest above ;
Arise, earth-dinging thoughts,
Ascend, my iingering love !
THE REST-DAY.
Ha?c dies, h
' d redditur ;
Ten
Quo r . jai nos dflexit
Grande, pi-
Voce valida.
Surge, cm
Vere quaere Christum isturu.
Corde sorde procul posita. — Old Hymn'.
For thee we long and pray,
0 blessed Sabbath-morn !
And all the week we say,
O ! when wilt thou return ?
Come, come away.
Day of glad rest,
Of days the best.
Sweet Sabbath-day !
180 THE REST-DAY.
Thou tellest us how Christ
Arose and left the tomb ;
And all the week we say,
0 ! when will Sabbath come ?
Come, come away, etc.
Thou tellest us how we,
Like him shall leave the tomb ;
And all the week we say,
0 ! when will Sabbath come ?
Come, coma away, etc.
Thou tellest of a rest,
A peaceful hap] y home,
Where all the saints are blest ;
O ! when will Sabbath come ?
Come, come away, etc.
THE INNER CALM.
Calm me, my God, and keep me calm,
While these hot breezes blow,
Be like the night-dew's cooling balm
Upon earth's fevered brow.
Calm me, my God, and keep me calm,
Soft resting on thy breast,
Soothe me with holy hymn and psalm
And bid my spirit
Calm me. my God, and keep me calm,
Let thine outstretched wins:
Be like the shade of Elim's palm,
Beside her desert spring.
Yes, keep me calm, though loud and rude
The sounds my ear that greet
Calm in the closet's solitude,
Calm tn the bustling street.
15
182 THE INNER CALM.
Calm in the hour of buoyant health,
Calm in my hour of pain,
Calm in my poverty or wealth,
Calm in my loss or gain.
Calm in the sufferance of wronof,
Like Him who bore my shame,
Calm 'mid the threatening, taunting throng,
Who hate thy holy name.
Calm when the great world's news with power
My listening spirit stir ;
Let not the tidings of the hour
E'er find too fond an ear.
Calm as the ray of sun or star
Which storms assail in vain,
Moving unruffled through earth's war,
The eternal calm to gain.
THE DISBURDENING
Lay down thy burden here ;
With such a weary load
Thou canst not climb yon hill,
Yon steep and rugged road.
'Tis rough, and wild, and high,
Thickets and rocks impede ;
Scant resting-place between,
How canst thou upward speed f
Lay down thy burden here,
Poor weary son of time ;
So shall thy limbs be strong, —
So shalt thou upward climb.
The sun is hot, no cloud
To shield thee from his ray;
It scorches up thy strength,
Stay now, poor climber, stay.
184 THE DISBURDENING.
Thou breathest hard, the drops
Are on thy burning brow ;
Try not another step,
Lay down thy burden now.
So shalt thou climb yon hill,
Up to its steepest height ;
Like eagle of the rock,
With easy joyful flight.
So shalt thou bear the toils
Thy God appoints to thee j
So shalt thou serve thy God
In happy liberty.
COMPANIONSHIP.
Xot with the light and vain.
The man of idle feet and wanton eves ;
Not with the world's gay, ever-smiling train;
My lot be with the grave and wise.
Not with the trifler gay,
To whom life seems but sunshine on the wave,
Not with the empty idler of the day ;
My lot be with the wise and grave.
Not with the jesting fool,
TTho knows not what to sober truth is due.
Whose words fly out without or aim or rule !
My lot be with the wise and true.
Xot with the man of drearns.
In whose brio-ht words no truth nor wisdom lies,
Dazzling the fervent youth with mystic gleams ;
My lot be with the simply wise.
16*
186 THE HEAVENLY SOWING.
With them I 'd walk each day,
From them time's solemn lessons would I learn ;
That false from true, and true from false I may
Each hour more patiently discern.
THE HEAVENLY SOWING.
Sower divine !
Sow the good seed in me,
Seed for eternity.
'Tis a rough barren soil,
Yet by thy care and toil,
Make it a fruitful field
An hundred fold to yield.
Sower divine,
Plough up this heart of mine !
Sower divine !
Quit not this wretched field
Till thou hast made it yield ;
Sow thou by day and night,
In darkness and in light.
THE HEAVENLY SOWING. 187
v not thy hand, but sow;
Then shall the harvest grow.
Sower divine
Sow deep this heart of mine !
Sower divine!
Let not this barren clay
Lead thee to turn away ;
Let not my fruitlessness
Provoke thee not to bless \
Let not this field be dry,
Refresh it from on high.
Sower divine,
Water this heart of mine •
DISAPPOINTMENT.
" Eoce mundus turbat et amatur, quid si tranquillus
-Augustine.
Trust not these seas again,
Tbo' smooth and fair ;
Trust not these waves again,
Shipwreck is there.
Trust not these stars again,
Tho' bright and fair ;
Trust not these skies again,
Tempest is there.
Trust not that breeze again,
Gentle and fair ;
Trust not these clouds again,
Lio*htnino- is there.
Trust not that isle again,
Flower-crowned and fair;
Trust not its rocks again,
Earthquake is there.
DISAPPOINTMENT. 189
Trust not these flowers again,
Fragrant and fair ;
Trust not that rose again,
Blighting is there.
Trust not that earth again,
Verdant and fair ;
Trust not its fields again,
Winter is there.
Trust not these hopes again,
Sunny and fair ;
Trust not that smile again,
Peril is there.
Trust not this world again,
Smiling and fair ;
Trust not its sweets again..
Wormwood is there.
Trust not its love again,
ding and fair ;
Trust not its joy again,
Sorrow is there.
THE TIME TO MEET,
T is autumn now ;
And as we part,
The dry brown leaf
Is rustling o'er the ground ;
Making the sadness sadder, and the cloud
Of the long farewell deeper in its gloom.
Not thus let us meet ;
Mid falling leaves
And sere, frost-stricken flowers ;
But when the leaf is budding in its freshness,
And the rich blossom putting forth its gladness.
Not thus let us meet ;
It is too sad ;
But when the buried verdure
Is coming up to meet the joyous sun,
When the new spring looks round upon the hills,
Full of youth's buoyant promise and bright song,
Then let us meet.
THE TIME TO MEET. 191
Fes, when the spring-breeze blows,
And the gay garden blooms,
And the wide forest waves with budding green,
And the Greed streamlet warbles through the broom,
And the clear air takes up the happy note
Of skylark singing to the rosy dawn,
Then let us meet ;
And meeting, cheer each other's weary heart
With the dear hope of everlasting spring,
And the fair land that spreads beneath the slopes
Of the eternal hills,
Where nothing dies ;
Where nothing fades ;
But all is without ending or decay,
The sky, the sun, the light,
The peace, the truth, the love,
And above all, the joy !
GONE BEFORE.
Thou art in heaven, and I am still on earth;
'Tis years, long years, since we were parted here,
I still a wanderer amid grief and fear,
And thou the tenant of a brighter sphere.
Yet still thou seemest near ;
But yesterday it seems,
Since the last clasp was given,
Since our lips met.
And our eyes looked into each other's depths
Thou art amid the deathless, I still here,
Amid things mortal, in a land of graves,
A land o'er which the heavy-beating waves
Of changing time move on, a land where raves
The storm, which whoso braves
Must have his anchor fixed
Firmly within the vail ; —
So let my anchor be ;
Such be my consolation and my hope !
GONE BEFORE. 193
Thou art amid the sorrowiess, I here
Amid the sorrowing ; and yet not long
Shall I remain 'mid sin. and fear, and wrong :
Soon shall I join you in your sinles
Thy day has come, not gone,
Thy sun Las risen,
Thy lite is now beyond
The reach of death or change ;
Not ended but begun,
Such shall our life be soon,
And then. — the meeting-day,
How full of light and joy !
All fear of change cast out.
All shadows passed away,
The union sealed for ever
Between us and our Lord.
17
THE ELDER BROTHER.
Yes, for me, for me lie careth
With a brother's tender care ;
Yes, with me, with me he shareth
Ever)' burden, every tear.
Yes, o'er me, o'er me he watcheth,
Ceaseless watcheth, night and day :
Yes, even me, even me he snatcheth
From the perils of the way.
Yes, for me he standeth pleading,
At the mercy-seat above ;
Ever for me interceding,
Constant in untiring love.
Yes, in me abroad he sheddeth
Joys unearthly, — love and light;
And to cover me he spreadeth
His paternal wing of might.
THE ELDER BROTHER. 196
Yes, in me, in me he dwelleth ; —
I in him, and he in me !
And my empty soul he filleth,
Here and through eternity.
Thus I wait for his returning,
Singing all the way to heaven;
Such the joyful song of morning,
Such the tranquil song of even.
LIFE FROM THE DEAD
Spirit of everlasting grace,
Infinite source of life, come down,
These tombs unlock, these dead upraise,
Thy glorious power and love make known.
Breathe o'er this valley of the dead,
Send forth thy quickening might abroad,
Till, rising from their tombs, they spread,
In full array, — the host of God !
Thy heritage lies desolate,
And all thy pleasant places mourn ;
O look upon our low estate,
In loving kindness, Lord, return !
Now let thy glory be revealed,
Now let thy presence with us rest ; — ■
O heal us, and we shall be healed !
0 bless us, and we shall be blest 1
EVER NEAR.
I close my heavy eye, —
Saviour ever near !
I lift ray soul on high
Through the darkness drear.
Be thou my light. I cry.
Saviour ever dear !
I feel thine arms around.
Saviour, ever near !
With thee let me be found,
So shall I never fear,
Whatever ill abounds , —
Saviour, ever dear !
Thine is the day and night,
Saviour, ever near ;
Thine is the dark and light, —
Be thou my covert here ;
O shield me with thy might,
Saviour, ever dear !
17*
198 TT IS FINISHED.
And when I come to die,
Saviour, ever near,
Receive my parting sigh :
And, in the hour of fear,
Be to my spirit nigh,
Saviour, ever dear !
IT IS FINISHED.
Blessed be God, our God !
Who gave for us his well-beloved Son,
His gift of gifts, all other gifts in one.
Blessed be God, our God !
What will he not bestow ?
Who freely gave this mighty gift, unbought,
Unmerited, unheeded and unsought,
What will he not bestow ?
He spared not His Son !
'Tis this that silences each rising feai,
'Tis this that bids the hard thought disappear
He spared not His Son !
IT IS FINISHED. 199
Who shall condemn us now ?
Since Christ Las died, and risen, and gone above,
For us to plead at the right hand of love,
Who shall condemn us now ?
lis God that justifies!
Who shall recall the pardon or the grace,
Or who the broken chain of guilt replace ?
Tis God that justifies !
The victory is ours !
For us in might came forth the One,
For us he fought the fight, the triumph won ;
The victory is ours !
PRESS ON.
Be brave, my brother !
Fight the good fight of faith
With weapons proved and true ;
Be faithful and unshrinking to the death,
Thy God will bear thee through ;
The strife is terrible,
Yet 'tis not, 'tis not long ;
The foe is not invincible,
Though fierce and strong.
Be brave, my brother !
The recompense is great,
The kingdom bright and fair ;
Beyond the glory of all earthly state,
Shall be the glory there.
Grudge not the heavy cost,
Faint not at labor here,
'Tis but a life-time at the most,
The day of rest is near.
PRESS ON. 201
Be brave, my brother !
He, whom thou servest, slights
Not even his weakest one ;
No deed, though poor, shall be forgot,
However feebly done.
The prayer, the wish, the thought,
The faintly spoken word,
The plan that seemed to come to nought,
Each has its own reward.
Be brave, my brother !
Enlarge thy heart and soul ;
Spread out thy free glad love,
Encompass earth, embrace the sea,
As does that sky above.
Let no man see thee stand
In slothful idleness.
As if there were no work for thee
In such a wilderness.
Be brave, my brother !
Stint not the liberal hand,
Give in the joy of love ;
So shall thy c\ )wn be bright, and great
Thy recompense above ;
202 LAUS DEO.
Reward, — not like the deed,
That poor weak deed of thine ;
But like the God himself who gives,
Eternal and. divine.
LAUS DEO.
Everlasting praises
To the Father be !
Everlasting praises
To the Saviour be !
Ever! asti ng praises
To the Spirit be !
Everlasting praises
To the blessed Trinity !
Everlasting praises
For the Father's love !
Everlasting praises
For the Saviour's love !
Everlasting prj ises
For the Spirit's love !
Everlasting praises
To the Three-One God of love !
C R E A T I 0 N.
In the beginning was the THE WORD ;
The Word was God.
In the beginning was the Word ;
And His abode
From everlasting was with God.
His name
I AM,—
Jehovah, God, the Lord.
Ever to be adored ;
The eternal Son, —
The ever-blessed One.
From all, to all eternity,
The brightness of the eternal Father's glory He !
Creator of the heaven and earth,
Their Lord and King.
Creator of the heaven and earth,
The ano-els sins: !
204 CREATION.
To him all praise and glory bring;
His power
Adore,
From which all things had birth,
By which they still stand forth
In beauty glad,
With heavenly radiance clad.
Praise, praise His ever-flowing love,
That brightens all below, and gladdens all above,
" Let there be light," 'twas He that spoke,
" And there was light,"
" Let there be light," 'twas He that spoke,
And the long night
At His divine command took flight.
The ray
Of day
O'er the deep darkness broke ;
The sleeping world awoke :
Earth, sea, and sky
Burst forth in praises high
To Him who made the light to be :
He is the Light of light, and there is none but He !
CREATION. 205
This green, glad, goodly earth of ours
His hand did frame.
This green, glad, goodly earth of ours
Doth still proclaim,
By day and night, His wondrous name.
These seas
Are His ;
Each mountain-peak that towers ;
These clouds with their fresh showers ;
These streams that run
Quick-glancing in the sun,
These tossing woods, these trembling flowers,
And all that men call bright in this blight world of
ours.
All that has life and breath He made,
In earth, sea, sky.
All that has life and breath He made,
To swim or fly,
To creep or bound ; and, in his eye.
All good
They stood,
In beauty pure arrayed,
As if they could not fade.
18
206 CREATION.
How fair this frame,
How excellent His name,
Who, in the fulness of His love,
Transplanted thus to earth the Paradise above i
All glory to the eternal WORD,
Earth's Lord and King :
All glory to the eternal Word,
Ye angels, sing.
Ye sons of earth your tribute bring :
His name,
Proclaim, —
Jehovah, God, the Lord ;
Ever to be adored.
Maker of all,
Before him prostrate fall :
By every voice, and tribe, and tongue,
For ever and for ever be His praises sung.
DESERT LILIES.
Desert lilies, desert lilies !
Blooming gaily in the sand
Of this untrodden land ;
With your leaf as soft and green,
With your flower as fair in tint,
As delicate in form
As beautiful in hue,
As fragrant and as fresh,
As sweet at morn or even,
As bright with smiles and dew,
As in our happier plains
Cherished by genial rains.
Desert lilies, desert lilies !
Shining quietly like gems,
Upon your verdant stems ;
With no breath of man to dim you,
With no city smoke to taint you,
With no hand of man to pluck you,
208 DESERT LILIES.
"With no eye of man to see you,
With no care of man to tend you,
With no child's glad face to watch you,
As you spring and as you bloom ;
With no sorrowing lip to mourn you,
As you fade and as you die.
Nought but the wind's caress
In this lone wilderness !
Desert lilies, desert lilies !
Bidding welcome to the ray
Of this fierce-flaming day,
Courting no cloud, nor shade
Of rock, or cliff, or glade,
Opening your purple eyes
Unfearing to these skies.
What sunlight ye have seen,
What moonshine in these heavens,
What starlight clear and glad,
What soft dew at early dawn,
What cool breezes o'er this waste !
What sunsets ye have seen,
On these wondrous peaks around,
What tints of purple glow.
LIES. 209
At sunset or at morn !
What strange and solemn airs
Have ye heard, as all night long
Ye listened, night by nig
' Coming forth from yon wild crags,
Moving oat along ' pes,
Stealing down von mighty hill
To the silent sands beneath,
Creeping through the wiry boughs,
Of these tartas far and near.
0 life, how glad and blest,
Thou seem'st in such a waste !
0 beauty, what a power,
To cheer in loneliest hour !
0 earth where is the spot,
Which thy God visits not?
On which his eye of light
Rests not in gentle love ;
O'er its most barren sands,
Rejoicing from above !
O desert i*ocks, if one small leaf
Can. make these wastes look fair.
What will ye be when these scorched plains,
Earth's richest buds shall bear !
18*
210 SUMMER GLADNESS.
When eastern suns shall cease to scorch
And storms no more destroy ;
And these lone valleys shall give forth
Their streams, and flowers, and joy.
SUMMER GLADNESS.
What a world with all its sorrows !
What a scene, would it but stay ;
What an earth, if all its morrows
Were as fair as this " to-day !"
When earth's summer pulse is beating
With the fever-fire of June,
And the flowers fling up their greeting,
Quivering to the joyous noon.
When the streamlet, smiling gladly,
Hurries calmly, brightly by,
Not a voice around speaks sadly,
Not a murmur nor a sio*h.
MSB GLADNESS. 211
Sunbeams with their fond caresses,
Smooth each rosebud's velvet fold,
Lingering in the glowing tresses
Of yon rich laburnum's gold.
Nature all its gay •
Opens to the day's bright bliss.
Like a child at early mor
"Wakened by its mother's kiss.
What a world ! when all its sorrow
Shall for ever pass away !
What an earth ! when each M to-morrow"
Shall be fairer than ,; to-day."
THE FRIEND.
There is a star in yonder sky,
Above all stars it seems to shine,
'Tis long since first it fixed my eve,
And I have learned to call it mine.
It rose out of my own blue sea,
Then passed above those mountains green,
Moving all placidly,
As if it loved to watch the scene.
Far up the heavens it floated slow,
Gleaming across yon solemn tower,
As if it loved the scene below ; —
A willing lingerer hour by hour.
It seemed to take its place each night,
As sentinel to guard my rest,
An eye of love and gentle light,
Pouring sweet thoughts into my breast.
TH£ FRIEND. 213
In through my lattice as I lay
Half soothed to sleep, it nightly shone,
And as I gazed upon its ray
I felt that I was not alone.
What tears that gentle star has dried,
What joy that sparkling orb has given ;
Thoughts for this earth too high, too wide,
Dreams of its own all-radiant heaven.
It spot Lhis night,
In the glad land where all is fair ;
It pointed to the home of light,
And bid me rest my spirit there.
It spoke of Him whose love is light.
Whose death is lite, whose cross is peace.
Whose favor is the star of night,
The sourc bliss.
May I not love that star on high \
May not its light the fairest seem \
May I not trace r loving eye,
A kindly smile in every beam \
THE BLANK.
The flowers of Spring have come and gone ;
Bright were the blossoms, brief their stay ;
They shone, and the] one upon,
They flourished, faded, passed away.
So hidden from our sorrowing eyes.
Our young, sweet, spring- bloom buried lies ;
One blast of earth swept o'er the flower,
It died, the blossom of an hour.
The Summer flowers are freshly blowing
Beneath glad July's genial morn ;
Like smiles the face of earth bestrewing,
For fragrance and for beauty born ;
My summer-flower has passed away,
'Tis now a blank, where all was gay ;
A blank, where at each evening's close,
I hoped to watch my budding rose.
THE BLA^K.
215
Soon Autumn, with overflowing measure.
Will hang upon each bending tree
The clusters of its golden treasure.
The life of ear:.. imily.
Alas, in one disastrous hour.
From my green vine has fallen the floweF ;
A blighted hue its branches wear,
Mv autumn tree looks cold and bare.
And Winter, with its blast wide-roaming,
In cloud and darkness shall come forth ;
Beneath its grave of snow entombing
The various verdure of the e
But my sweet blossom, safely laid,
Beneath yon cloisters solemn shade.
In gentle undisturbed repose,
Shall sleep in winter's grave of snows.
CHOOSE WELL.
0 quam dulce, quam jucundum
Erit tunc odisse mundum,
Et quam triste, quam amarum
Mundum habuisse carum. — Old Hymk.
O dead in sin !
Wilt thou still choose to die
The death of deaths eternally ?
Dost thou not feel the gloom
Of the eternal tomb ?
O dead to life !
"Wilt thou the life from heaven
Reject? the life so freely given ;
Wilt thou choose sin and tears
Through everlasting years ?
O dead to Christ !
Wilt thou despise the love
Of Him who stooped from joy above,
To shame on earth for thee,
That he might set thee free ?
T WAS I THAT DID IT.
217
O dead to ;
Wilt thou Dot Beek his :
Wilt thou not turn and own the grace !
Wilt thou not take the heave
So freely to thee gi
'TWAS I THAT DID IT,
I see the crowd in Pilate's hall,
I mark tfa tfiil mien ;
Their shouts of M crucify appall
With blasphemy betwe !
And of that shouting multitude
I feel that I am oi
And in ( ode,
I recognise my <;-
I see the ' :ar his back,
I see the piercing crown,
And of that crowd who smote and mock,
I feel that I am one,
10
218 'TWAS I THAT DID 11.
Around yon cross, the throng I see,
Mocking the sufferer's groan,
Yet still my voice it seems to be,—
As if I mocked alone.
'Twas I that shed the sacred blood,
I nailed him to the tree,
I crucified the Christ of God,
I joined the mockery.
Yet not the less that blood avails,
To cleanse away my sin,
And not the less that cross prevaik
To give me peace within.
THE USEFUL LIFE.
"^VXV fJ-ov^ yvx'O ftovt
'AvaoTa, t\ KadevSecc.
Old Greek Hymn.
Go labor on ; spend, and be spent, —
Thy joy to do the Father's will ;
It is the way the Master went,
Should not the servant tread it still !
Go labor en ; 'tis not for nought ;
Thy earthly loss is heavenly gain ;
Men heed thee, love thee, praise thee not ;
The Master praises, — what are men?
Go labor on ; enough, while here,
If He shall praise tb -^g11
Thy willing heart to mark and cheer ;
Xo toil for Him shall be in vain.
220 THE USEFUL LIFE.
Go labor on ; your hands are weak,
Your knees are faint, your soul cast down ,
Yet falter not ; the prize you seek,
Is near, — a kingdom and a crown !
Go labor on, while it is day,
The world's dark night is hastening on ;
Speed, speed thy work, cast sloth away :
It is not thus that souls are won.
Men die in darkness at your side,
Without a hope to cheer the tomb ;
Take up the torch and wave it wide,
The torch that lights time's thickest gloom.
Toil on, faint not, keep watch and pray ;
Be wise the erring soul to win ;
Go forth into the world's highway,
Compel the wanderer to come in.
Toil on, and in thy toil rejoice ;
For toil comes rest, for exile home ;
Soon shalt thou hear the Bridegroom's voice,
The midnight peal, behold I come !
PASSING THROUGH.
J wale as ODe who knows that he is treading
A stranger soil ;
As one round whom a serpent-world is spreading
Its subtle coil.
I walk as one but yesterday delivered
From a sharp chain ;
Who trembles lest the bond so newly severed
Be bound again.
I walk as one who feels that he is breathing
Ungenial air ;
For whom as wiles, the tempter still is wreathing
The bright and fair.
My steps, [ know, are on the plains of danger,
For sin is near ;
But looking up, I pass aloDg, a stranger,
In haste and fear.
19*
222 PASSIKG THROUGH.
This earth has lost its power to drag me downward ;
Its spell is gone ;
My course is now right upward, aud right onward.
To yonder throne.
Hour after hour of time's dark night is stealing
In gloom away ;
Speed thy fair dawn of light, and joy, and healing,
Thou Star of day !
For thee its God, its King, the long-rejected,
Earth groans and cries ;
For thee the long-beloved, the long-expected,
Thy bride still sighs !
FORWARD.
Shall this life of mine be wasted }
Shall this vineyard lie untilled ?
Shall true joy pass by untested,
And this soul remain unfilled ?
Shall the God-given hours be scattered,
Like the leaves upon the plain ?
Shall the blossoms di I ired
By the drops of heavenly rain ]
Shall I see each fair son waking,
And not feel, it wakes for me ?
Each glad morning brightly breaking
And not feel, it breaks for me ]
Shall I see the roses blowing,
And not wish to bloom as they }
Holy fragrance round me throwing,
Luring others on the wav.
224 FORWARD.
Shall I bear the free bird singing
In the sum:. ,ky,
Far aloft its g] flinging,
i
Shall this heart still spend its treasures
On the things that fade and die;
Shall it court the hollow pleasures
Of bewildering
Shall these lips of mine be idle ;
Shall I open them in vain ?
Shall I not with God's own bridle
Their frivolities restrain ?
Shall these eyes of mine still wander ?—
Or, no longer turned afar,
Fix a firmer gaze and fonder
On the bright and morning Star ?
Shall these feet of mine, delaying,
Still in ways of sin be found,
Braving snares and madly straying
On the world's bewitching ground ?
FORWARD. 225
Xo, I was not born to trifle
Life away in dreams or sin !
Xo, I must not, dare not stifle
Loi: ch as these within!
Swiftly moving, upward, onward,
Let my soul in faith be borne ;
Calmly gazing, skyward, sunward,
Let my eye unshrinking turn!
Where the Cross, God's love revealing,
Sefa the fettered spirit free,
Where it she:' I rous healing,
There, my soul, thy rest shall be !
Then no longer idly dreaming
Shall I fling my years away ;
But, each precious hour redeeming,
Wait for the eternal day !
NOTHING BETWEEN.
Fondly, fondly returneth the daylight
To the old hill's grey peak ere the dawn has begun ;
Slowly, slowly recedeth the daylight
From the old hill's grey peak when the long day is
done.
Softly, softly returneth the ripple
To its rest on the sand of yon green-margined bay,
Sadly, sadly recedeth the ripple
To mingle again with the sea's drifting spray.
Gladly, gladly the dew of the twilight
Floats up to the rainbow at blush of the dawn,
Slowly, slowly the dew of the twilight,
Seeks the dark sod again when the sun is with-
drawn.
It is thus, even thus, that the sunlight of heaven,
Returns and retires with the morn and the even ;
NOTHING 22 V
Thus slowly retiring as sleep seals the eye,
Returning at day-spring with joy from on high.
Night's last gleam and truest, my God's gracious love,
Morn's first beam and fondest, his joy from above.
Yet, 'tis not night alone that comes between
My God mid me, to mar the peaceful scene ;
But the world's blazing day, hour after hour,
Beats on my head, and with its scorching power
Dries up my dew and sap, nay dim-- my eye
With its bewildering blaze of vanity.
Then comes the quiet and the cool of night,
To give me back the calm, of which the light
Of this gay world had sought me to bereave.
O gentle shadows of the tranquil eve !
Eve with thy stillness and soul-soothing balm,
What do I owe thee for thy solemn calm !
Thou comest down like some peace-bringing dove,
To soothe and cheer me with thv silent love.
FOLLOW THOU ME,
Restore to me the freshness of my youth,
And give me back my soul's keen edge again,
That time has blunted ! O, my early truth, —
Shall I not you regain ?
Ah, mine has been a wasted life at best,
All unreality and long unrest ;
Yes, I have lived in vain !
But now no more in vain ; — my soul, awake,
Shake off the snare, untwist the fastening chain :
Arise, go forth, the selfish slumber break,
Thy idle dreams restrain !
Still half thy life before thee lies untrod,
Live for the endless living, live for God ! —
I must not live in vain !
My God ! the way is rough and sad the night,
And my soul faints and breathes this weeping strain ,
And the world hates me with its bitterest spite, —
For I have left its train,
FOLLOW THOU ME. 229
With thee and with thy saints to cast my lot:
Ah, ray dear Lord, let me not be forgot,
Let me not live in vain !
Can we not part in silence, since for ever,
This world and I? From scorn and taunt refrain?
Must it still bate and wound ] still stir tbe fever
Of tbis poor throbbing brain !
Ah, yes, it must be so, my God, my God ;
'Tis tbe true discipline, tbe needed rod,
Else I should live in vain !
The foe is strong, — his venom ed rage I dread,
Yet, 0 my God, do thou his wrath restrain ;
Shield me in battle, soothe my aching head
In the sharp hour of pain :
But more than this, oh give me toiling faith,
Large-hearted love, and zeal unto the death :
Let me not lire in vain.
Restore to me the freshness of my youth,
And give me back my soul's keen edge again :
Ah, let my spring return ! bright hope and truth
Shall I not you regain ?
20
230 VANITY.
No wasted life, my God, shall mine now be,
Hours, days, and years filled up with toil for the© :
I shall not live in vain !
VANITY.
Te akriQuq dyada ovk sgtlv iv rrj KaTrjpaiievr) yy . — ORIGES
Nay 'tis not that we fancied it,
This magic world of ours ;
We thought its skies were only blue,
Its fields all sun and flowers.
Its streams all summer-bright and glad,
Its seas all smiles and calms,
Its path from youth to age, one long
Green avenue of palms.
But clouds came np with glooom and shade
Our sky was overcast,
The hot mist threw its blight around,
Sunshine and flowers went past.
VANITY. 231
Hopes perished, that had hung like wreaths
Around youth's buoyant brow,
And joys, like v autumn leaves,
Droj ugh.
Yet from tl rth the light,—
Light beamii g from on high ;
And from these faded flowers spring up
The flowers that can not die.
Far fairer is the land we seek,
A land without a tomb,
An everlasting resting-place,
A sure and quiet home.
Far sunnier than the hills of time
Are its eternal hills :
Far fresher than the rills of earth
Are its eternal rills.
No blight can fall upon its flowers,
No darkness fill its air,
It has a day forever bright,
For Christ, its sun, is there.
232 MACHPELAH.
0 Sun of love and peace, arise,
Thy light upon us beam ;
For all this life is but a sleep,
And all this world a dream.
MACHPELAH.
Only a tomb, no more !
A rock-hewn sepulchre.
And this, and this is all that's thine,
Fair Canaan's mighty heir!
Only a tomb, no more !
A future resting-place,
When God shall lay thee down, and bid
All thy long wanderings cease.
This cave and field,- — no more, —
Canst thou thy dwelling call ;
That land of thine, — plains, hills, woods,
streams, —
The stranger has it all !
ah. 233
Thj altar and thy tent
Are all that thou bast here:
With these content, thou passest on,
A homeless wanderer.
Thy life unrest and toil ;
Thy course a pilgrimage ;
Only in death thou goest down,
To claim thv heritage ; —
A heritage which death
Shall seal to thee for aye,
A resurrection-heritage
When all things pass away.
A home of endless peace,
Beyond these hills of strife ;
When these old rocks give up their dead,
And death shall end in life.
A heritage of life,
Beyond this guarded gloom,
A kingdom, not a field or cave ;
A city, not a tomb.
20*
OLD WORDS.
mkit/A yap kori tt/Z d/.TjOetac Ittt]. — jEsCHYLUB.
Was this earth sunnier in the clays of old ?
Or was it but the eye that looked on it,
That then was fresher, happier, in the youth
And manhood of our race ! Were springs more bright
And summers lovelier, lighted up by suns
Long set, — suns of a younger heaven than ours ?
Was the air purer ere the heavy breath
Of ages had gone to poison it ?
Did the long gleam upon the ancient Nile
Blaze in a richer radiance to the noon,
When History's old father gazed upon it ?
Or was the sunshine on the hills of Greece
Purer when Homer sang and Sappho wept :
Or was the brow of Lebanon more fair
With whiter snow-wreaths, when the kings of Tyre
Build ed their marble palaces beneath
The mighty shadows of its haughty peaks ?
OLD WORDS. 2.Q5
Was this earth sunnier in the days < f old.
Or is the glory hovering o'er its hills.
And v g thro' the unf ble stretch
Of its old skies, of which mei
But the gay vision of a fresher eye.
When this old race was y n's steps
Went with more buoyant free
Or was it all a dream
When dreams are happiest ] Is i still a dream,
Well-dreaint in these our days, wl :>ok out
With sad eye on the present, as ifcloi
Unknown in other days,
Upon our hills to shut our sun an
I know not. Yet I I
To this earth's younger days and earlier see
In which there s:em< to r youth,
The blossom and th rf dawn,
And the grave quiet of the solemn eve.
Was the world wiser in the days of old,
When in this land on truth,
Or is the wisdom of these ancient times,
A foible v. 11- .to keep us lowly 1
And are the words and thoughts of other d:
The martyr-words and thoughts, and above all
236 01D WORDS.
The martyr-deeds of mighty men whose hair
Grew grey before its time, whose youthful face
Grew early pale, and o'er whose thoughtful brow
Age drew its farrows, prematurely deep, —
Are these old words, and thoughts, and noble deeds
But meant for them who he: w them then,
But overdated now, unsuitable
For manhood and full age, like that to which
We have attained in these our riper tim
It cannot be so; truth is ever true,
In this age or the last, and error false,
To-day as it was yesterday. Xo age
Can outgrow truth, or can afford to part
With the tried wisdom of the past, with words
That centuries have sifted, and on which
Ages have ser ed down
From venerable lips of solemn men,
Who learned their wisdom in a graver school.
And in an age of keener, sorer conflict
Than we have known in this gay holiday,
When truth and error are but things of taste,
Changelings of fashion, altei ing year by year.
Guard then those ancient wells, those living springs,
Of which our fathers drank and were refreshed.
OLD WORDS. 237
Guard then these ancient palms beneath whose shade
Our fathers have sat down, and 61 whose fiuit
They ate and went upon their way in peace.
Part not wi h one of which
Bears in its bosom precious histories,
The life-deeds and death-conflicts of the i
Fremont'' spring, the men of might
And such vict: .
Of truth for us. These venerable names
And words pre* heritance
For chi ihildren to the latest
Part not T" • old names and words, each one
Com v. —
A great sou]
Within its shell lies hid. Fling not awi
The shell
Lest in b way
The gem \ .. ithiiL
It is vk.
And iti men woul way,
Becar> _ d homely.
Yet truth is beauty, I
And beauty is but hidde
Like blossoms from the rough brown buds of spring,
238 OLD WORDS.
Part Dot with these old Dames. See how they shioe
Id these old heaveDs, like stars, whose rays do age
CaD dim, doi* boastful art of maD supplant,
By lights, the iDveDtioD of his fruitful skill.
They lighted up the darkness of the ways
By which our fathers walked in joy to heaven ;
Not dowt less needful Dor less glad their beams.
Part Dot with these old Dames and words, each one
Is as a seed, the womb of hidden life ;
And he that tliDgs away a seed destroys
The future harvest, of a huudred fields.
Part Dot with these old Dames, id each of them
Our fathers wrapt up wisdom for their sods,
ADd their sons' sons clowrn to earth's latest day.
What thoughts are clinging round them, thick as dew
UpoD the fields of the fresh summer's grass,
Mellow as fruit upon the autumn-trees.
Say not, our age is wiser; if it be,
It is the wisdom which the past has given
That makes it so ; for iD these Dames is wrritten
That woDdrous wisdom that has made us wise.
THE OLD JEW OX MOUXT MORIAH.
He stood bewildered on his lonely hearth,
Sadness was written on his fixed brow,
For he had witnessed days 01 holy mirth
Where silence dwells and desolation now.
The grief he felt he cared not to avow.
Calmly he stood, yet sorrowfully too,
The latest leaf upon the topmost bough
Of the green olive that so lately threw
Aloft its leaty arms when the glad spiing was new
Friendless and homeless ! How unlike the past 1
Once honored scion of a noble stem ;
But now forsaken, desolate, the last
Bright jewel of a kingly diadem ;
The last dim dew-drop of all those tnat gem
The still lone valley where the sunbeams fall.
He trod his ancient hills, but found on them
Nought but his shivered altar-shrines, for all
Was tomb-like hushed, and dark as with a funeral
pall.
THE SHEPHERDS' PLAIN.
Dum servant oves invenerunt Agnum Dei.7 7 — JEROifft
Blessed night, when first that plain
Echoed with the joyful strain, —
" Pea roe to earth again."
Blessed hills, that heard the song
Of the glorious angel-throng,
Swelling all your slopes along.
Happy shepherds, on whose ear
Fell the tidings glad and dear, —
" God to man is drawing near."
Happy shepherds, on whose eye
Shone the glory from on high,
Of the heavenly Majesty.
THE SHEPHERDS' PLAIN. 24]
Happy, happy Bethlehem,
Judah's least but brightest gem,
"Where the rod from Jesse's stem.
Scion of a princely race,
Sprung in heaven's own perfect grace,
Yet in feeble lowliness.
This the woman's promised seed,
Abram's mighty son indeed ;
Succorer of earth's great need.
This the victor in our war,
This the glory seen ;
This the light of Jacob1s star !
Happy Judah, rise and own
Him, the heir of David's throne,
David's Lord, and David's Son.
Babe of promise, born at last.
After weary ages past,
When our hopes were overcast.
21
242 the shepherds' plain.
Babe of weakness, can it be,
That earthy last great victory
Is to be achieved by thee ?
Child of meekness, can it be
That the proud rebellious knee
Of this world shall bend to thee 1
Child of poverty, art thou
He to whom all heaven shall bow,
And all earth shall pay the vow %
Can that feeble head alone
Bear the weight of such a crown9
As belongs to David's Son ?
Can these helpless hands of thine,
Wield a sceptre so divine,
As belongs to Jesse's line ?
Heir of pain and toil, whom none
In this evil day will own,
Art thou the Eternal One ?
THE SHEPHERDS PLAIN. 243
Thou, o'er whom the sword and rod
Wave, in haste, to drink thy blood,
Art thou very Son of God ?
Thus revealed to shepherds' eyes,
Hidden from the great and wise,
Entering earth in lowly guise, —
Entering by this narrow door,
Laid upon this rocky floor,
Placed in yonder manger poor.
We adore thee as our King,
And to thee our song wre sing ;
Our best offering to thee bring.
Guarded by the shepherds' rod,
'Mid their flock, thy poor abode,
Thus we own thee, Lamb of God.
Lamb of God, thy lowly name,
King of kings, we thee proclaim ;
Heaven and earth shall hear its fame.
244 the shepherds' plain.
Bearer of our sins' sad load,
Wielder of the iron rod,
Judah's Lion, Lamb of God 1
Mighty King of righteousness,
King of glory, king of peace,
Never shall thy kingdom cease !
Thee, earth's heir and Lord, we own :
Raise again its fallen throne.
Take its everlasting crown.
Blessed Babe of Bethlehem,
Owner of earth's diadem,
Claim, and wear the radiant gem.
Scatter darkness with thy light,
End the sorrows of our night,
Speak the word, and all is bright.
Spoil the spoiler of the earth,
Bring creation's second birth,
Promised day of song and mirth
THE SHEPHERDS' PLAIN. 246
'Tis tbiue Israel's voice that calls,
Build ao-ain thy Salem's walla,
Dwell within her holy halls.
'Tis thy Church's voice that cries,
Rend these long unrended skies,
Bridegroom of the Church, arise.
Take to thee thy power and reign,
Purify this earth again;
Cleanse it from each curse and stain.
Sun of peace, no longer stay,
Let the shadows flee away,
And the loug night end in day.
Let the dayspring from on high,
That arose in Judah's sky,
Cover earth eternally.
Babe of Bethlehem, to thee,
Infaut of eternity,
Everlasting glory be !
21*
COME, LORD.
" Senuit mundus."' — AuGUOTDfE.
Come. Lord, and tarry not :
Bring the long-looked-for day,
Oh why these years of waiting here,
These ages of delay ?
Come, for thy saints still wait ;
Daily ascends their sigh ;
The Spirit and the Bride say, Come,
Dost thou not hear the cry ?
Come, for creation groans,
Impatient of thy stay,
TVorn out with these long years of ill,
These ages of delay.
Come, for thy Israel pines,
An exile from thy fold ;
O call to mind thy faithful word,
And bless them as of old.
COME, LORD. 247
Come, for thy foes are strong ;
Willi taunting lip they say,
" Where is the promised Advent now,
And where the dreaded da} P
Oorne, for the good are few ;
They lift the voice in vain,
Faith waxes fainter on the earth,
And love is on the wane.
Come, for the truth is weak,
And error pours abroad
Its subtle poison o'er the earth, —
An earth that hates her God.
Come, for love waxes cold,
Its steps are faint and slow ;
Faith now is lost in unbelief,
Hope's lamp burns dim and low.
Come, for the grave is full,
Earth's tombs no more can hold,
The sated sepulchres rebel,
And groans the heaving mould.
248 COME, LORD.
Come, for the corn is ripe,
Put in thy sickle now,
Reap the great harvest of the earth ;—
Sower and reaper thou !
Come, in thy glorious might,
Come with the iron rod,
Scattering thy foes before thy face,
Most mighty Son of God.
Come, spoil the strong man's house,
Bind him and cast him hence,
Show thyself stronger than the strong,
Thyself Omnipotence.
Come, and make all things new,
Build up this ruined earth,
Restore our faded Paradise,
Creation's second birth.
Come, and begin thy reign
Of everlasting peace,
Come, take the kingdom to thyself,
Great King of righteousness.
THY WAY, XOT MINE.
Thy way, not mine, 0 Lord,
However dark it be !
Lead me by thine own hand,
Choose out the path for me.
Smooth let it be or rough,
It will be still the best,
Winding or straight, it matters not^
It leads me to thy rest.
I dare not choose my lot :
I would not, if I might ;
Choose thou for me. my God,
So shall I walk aright.
The kingdom that I seek
Is thine : so let the way
That leads to it be thine,
Else I mu^t surely stray.
250 THY WAY, NOT MINE.
Take thou my cup, and it
With joy or sorrow fill,
As best to thee may seem ;
Choose thou my good and ill.
Choose thou for me my friends,
My sickness or my health,
Choose thou my cares for me,
My poverty or wealth.
Not mine, not mine the choice,
In things or great or small ;
Be thou my guide, my strength.
My wisdom, and my all.
ALLELUIA
(from the lates-.)
Alleluia, Alleluia !
The battle now is done,
The victory is won ;
Let us joy and sing
Alleluia !
Alleluia, Alleluia !
Suffering death's cruel doom,
Jesus hath hell overcome ;
Let us praise and shout
Alleluia !
Alleluia, Alleluia !
He rose the third day, bright
In heavenly love and light ;
Let us cry and chant
Alleluia !
252 ALLELUIA.
Alleluia, Alleluia !
Closed are the gates below,
Heaven's halls are open now ;
Let us joy and sing
Alleluia !
Alleluia, Alleluia !
Jesus, by thy wounds, save
Us from the endless grave,
That we may live and sing
Alleluia ! *
* I give the first stanza of the above .hymn as a specimen
Alleluia, Alleluia!
Finita jam sunt praslia,
Est parta jam victoria,
Gaudeamus et canamus,
Alleluia I
LIVE.
Make haste, 0 man, to live,
For thou so soon must die ;
Time hurries past thee like the breeze ;
How swift its moments fly.
Make haste, 0 man, to live !
To breathe, and wake, and sleep,
To smile, to sigh, to grieve ;
To move in idleness through earth,
This, this is not to live !
Make haste, 0 man, to live !
Make haste, 0 man, to do
Whatever must be done ;
Thou hast no time to lose in sloth,
Thy day will soon be gone.
Make haste, 0 man, to live !
22
254 LITE.
Up then with speed, and work ;
Fling ease and self away ;
This is no time for thee to sleep,
Dp, watch, and work and pray !
0 man, to live !
The useful, not the great,
The thing that never dies ;
The silent toil that is not lost, —
Set these before thine eyes.
Make haste, 0 man, to live !
The seed, whose leaf and flower,
Though poor in human sight,
Brings forth at last the eternal fruit,
Sow thou by day and night.
Make haste, 0 man, to live !
Make haste, O man, to live,
Thy time is almost o?er ;
0 sleep not, dream not, but arise,
The Judge is at the door.
Make haste, 0 man, to live I
THE MARTYR'S GBAVE.
The moss is green upon the stone ;
The stone lies heavy on the mould ;
The spot is dreary, sad, and lone ;
The forest air is cold.
The sky above is wan and bleak ;
The ground beneath is brown and bare ;
No living voice intrudes to break
The tranquil silence there.
Another breeze among the boughs,
And then another leafy shower
Comes rustling down ; the sadness grows
More and more sad each hour.
The shadow of the drifting cloud
Falls chilly on these gloomy firs,
Deepening the darkness of the wood ;
Hardly a leaflet stirs.
256 the martyr's grave.
Quick-twinkling through the leafy screen,
The stray gleams go and come ;
Half-hidden by the shade, is seen
The old and well-known tomb.
Here sleeps the martyr's weary head ;
Here moulders holy dust,
With the wild wood-moss overspread,
Resting in silent trust.
No summer-flowers breathe sweetness here,
It is a lone forsaken spot,
Round lie the leaves of autumn sere,
The leaf that changes not.
Far from man's voice of love or strife,
'Tis fit that here his grave should be,
In death an outcast as in life —
Unnamed in history.
Young hopes, young friendships, joys of earth,
Had passed him by like summer-dreams,
Solemn his life had been from birth,
Like march of mountain streams.
THE MARTYR'S GRAVE.
257
Changeful his lot, like you vexed sky,
When moorland breezes wildly blow,
His weary soul now rests on high,
His body sleeps below.
Rest, weary dust, lie here an hour ;
Ere long, like blossom from the sod,
Thou shait come forth a glorious flower,
Fit for the eye of God.
22*
ALL WELL,
No seas again shall sever ;
No desert intervene ;
No deep and flowing river
Shall roll its tide between.
No bleak cliffs upward towering,
Shall bound our eager sight ;
No tempest darkly lowering,
Shall wrap us in its night.
Love, and unsevered union
Of soul with those wTe love,
Nearness and glad communion
Shall be our joy above.
No dread of wasting sickness,
No thought of ache or pain,
No fretting hours of weakness,
Shall mar our peace again.
LINKS. 259
No death our homes o'ershading,
Shall e'er our harps unstring,
For all is lite unfadi
In presence of our King.
LINKS.
Are there not voices, strangely sweet,
And tones of music strangely dear ;
So lovingly the soul they greet,
So kindly steal they on the ear.
We know not why they strike so deep,
"We can not tell the secret spring
Within us, which they wake from sleep,
Nor how such thoughts their notes can bring.
We ask not why nor how they thrill
So keenly through the inmost soul ;
And why, when ceased, we listen still,
As though they yet upon us stole.
260 LINKS.
We feel the sweetness of the voice ;
We love the richness of the tone ;
It makes us sorrow or rejoice,
Compelling us its power to own.
Are there not words, too, strangely sweet,
Thoughts, musings, memories, strangely dear ?
So lovingly the soul they greet,
So gently steal they on the ear !
Common the words may be and weak,
The passing stranger owns them not ;
To other ears in vain they speak,
Unknown, unrelished, or forgot.
Rich in old thoughts, these words appear,
Part of our being's mighty whole ;
Linked with our life's strange story here,
Knit to each feeling of our soul.
Linked with the scenes of days gone past,
With all life's earnest hopes and fears ;
Linked with the smiles that did not last,
The joys and griefs of faded years.
LINKS. 2 G 1
Linked with old dreams once dreamt in youth,
When dreams were gladder, truer things ;
When each night's vision of bright truth,
Lent to each buoyant day its wings.
Linked with the whisper of the trees,
When summer eves were fair and still ;
Set to the music of the breeze,
Or murmur of the twilight rill.
Linked with sene of sacred calm,
Of holy places, y s ;
Linked with the prayer, the hymn, the psalm,
The muitituc. ice of praise.
Linked with the names of holy men,
Martyr, or saint, or brother dear;
Some "er to mee
Some stiii our fellow-] i h ire.
Linked with that name of names, the name
Of Him who bought us with his blood;
Who bore for us the
The Virgin's Sun. the Christ of God-
THE RESURRECTION OF THE JUST.
Autumn has come at last ; and nature now
Binds up her summer tresses and disrobes,
That she may lay herself in silence down
Upon her winter's couch, and thereby sleep,
Repair her worn-out energies, and draw
New life into her veins, that when the sun
Flames out again, and the long-silent voice
Of happy birds and happier children wakes
Spring's first glad matin song, she may arise
Girt with new strength and with fresh beauty clothed.
Thus comes life's autumn, and the happy spirit,
Calmly disrobing, lays its garments down
Upon the leaf-strewn soil of this old earth,
Committing them, in quiet confidence
To the safe keeping of the trusty tomb,
Till death's brief winter shall have passed away.
Then these old robes with which she walked the earth,
Purged from each stain of vile mortality
By the all-cleansing winter of the grave,
THE PRAYER. 263
And blanched to glorious whiteness by its gloom,
Shall shine in fairer, fresher pui
When ist arrives,
And the ansetting sun .-miles down in peace
O'er a new paradise of love and joy.
THE PRAYER.
Fetch me the lightning G ning cloud,
With fiery force to break or melt this heart, —
A heart all earthly, foolish, vain, and proud ;
In unbelief and hate that bids its God depart.
Fetch me a beam from yon clear star of night ;
Or yet a warmer ray froi sun,
To kindle into heat, and glow, a
This soul of gloom and i day seems
scarce begun.
264 THE PRAYER.
Fetch me a drop from you translucent lake,
Or, farther up, from yon pure mouutain well,
These lips to cool, this feverish thirst to slake,
This weary frame to freshen, these fierce fires to
quell.
O thou my God, my being's health and source,
Better than life, brighter than noon to me,
Stretch out thy loving hand, with gentle force,
Bend tins still-struggling will, and draw it after
Thee.
Return to me, my ofc -forgotten God,
My spirit's true though long-forsaken rest ;
Undo these bars, re-enter thine abode,
In Thee and in Thy love alone would I be blest.
Re-mould this inner man in every part,
Re-knit these broken ties, resume thy sway ;
Take, as Thy throne and altar, this poor heart ;
Oh teach me how to love, oh help me to obey !
THE CITY.
Thou art no child of the city ;
Hadst thou known it as T have done,
Thou wouldst not have smiled with pity,
As if joy were with thee alone.
With thee the unfettered ranker
Of the forest and moorland tree ;
As if gloom and toil and danger
Could alone in a city be.
The smoke, the din, and the bustle
Of the city, I know them well.
And I know the gentle rustle
Of the leaves in your breezy dell.
Day's hurry, and evening's riot,
In the city I know them all ;
I know, too, the Loving quiet
Or' your glen at the day's sweet Call
9?.
266 THE CITY.
I know too each grim old alley,
With the blanched ray flickering through ;
I know each sweep of your valley,
Where the rosy light lies in dew.
I know too the stifling sadness
Of the summer-noon's sultry street ;
I 've breathed the air of your gladness
Where the streams aud the breezes meet.
I know the dun haunts of fever,
Where the blossoms of youth decay ;
I know where your free broad river
Sweeps disease on its breast away.
Yet despite your earnest pity,
And despite its own smoke and din,
I cling to yon crowded city,
Though I shrink from its woe and sin.
For I know its boundless measure,
Of the true, and the good, and fair ;
Its vast and far gathered treasure,
All the wealth of soul that is there.
THE CITY. 267
You may smile, or sneer, or pity,
You may fancy it weak and strange ;
My >b smoky city,
Still returns from its widest range.
Mv heart in its inmost beatings
Ever lingers around its home- ;
My soul wakes up in its greetings,
To the gleam of its spires and domes.
You call it life's weary common,
At the best but an idle fair,
The market of man and woman, —
But the choice of the race are there.
The wonders oi life and gladness.
All the wonders of hope and fear ;
The wonders of death and sadness,
All the wonders of time are there.
In your lone lake's still face yonder,
By your rivulet's bursting glee,
Deep truth I may read and ponder,
Of the earth and its mysi
268 the cnr.
There seems, in yon city's motion,
Yet a mightier truth for me :
'T is the sound of life's great ocean,
'T is the tides of the human sea.
O'er the fields of earth lie scattered,
Noble fruitage and blossoms rare ;
Yon city the store has gathered,
And the garner of hearts is there.
You may prize the lonely lustre
Of your pearl or emerald green ;
What is that to the gorgeous cluster
On the brow of the crowned Queen ?
And the home to which I 'm hasting,
Is not in some silent glen ;
The place where my hopes are resting,
Is a city of living men.
The crowds are there ; but the sadness
Is fled, with the toil and pain ;
Nought is heard but the song of gladness,-
T is the city of holy men.
THE CITY. ?69
And wilt thou my sad fate pity,
Wilt thou grieve o'er my heavy doom
When within that resplendent city,
1 shall find my glorious home ?
THE END
530 Broadway, April, 1663.
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