Sidor som bilder
PDF
ePub

WHAT ARE MEETINGS, HERE, BUT PARTINGS ?

WHAT are meetings, here, but partings?

What are ecstasies, but smartings?
Unions what, but separations?
What attachments, but vexations?
Every smile but brings its tear,
Love its ache, and hope its fear;
All that's sweet must bitter prove;
All we hold most dear-remove?
Foes may harm us; but the dearest,
Ever, here, are the severest:
Sorrows wound us; but we borrow
From delight the keenest sorrow:
'Tis to love our farewells owe
All their emphasis of wo;
Most it charms that most annoys;
Joys are griefs, and griefs are joys!

Heavenward rise!—'tis Heaven, in kindness
Mars our bliss, to heal our blindness:
Hope from vanity to sever;
Offering joys that bloom for ever,
In that amaranthine clime,
Far above the tears of time,
Where nor fear nor hope intrude,
Lost in pure beatitude!

A NEW YEAR.

COME, let us anew,
Our journey pursue,

Roll round with the year,
And never stand still,
Till the Master appear.
His adorable will
Let us gladly fulfill,
And our talents improve

By the patience of hope,
And the labor of love.

Our life is a dream,
Our time as a stream
Glides swiftly away;

And the fugitive moment
Refuses to stay.

The arrow is flown,
The moment is gone;
The millenial year

Rushes on to our view,

And eternity's here.

O that each in the day,

Of his coming may say,

"I have fought my way through; I have finished the work

Thou didst give me to do."
O that each from his Lord,
May receive the glad word:
"Well and faithfully done!
Enter into my joy,

And sit down on my throne !"

THE BREVITY OF LIFE. SWIFT as the arrow cuts its way Through the soft yielding air: Or as the sun's more subtle ray, Or lightning's sudden glare; Or as an eagle to the prey,

Or shuttle through the loomSo haste our fleeting lives away, So pass we to the tomb.

Like airy bubbles, lo! we rise,

And dance upon life's stream; Till soon the air that caused, destroys Th' attenuated frame.

Down the swift stream we glide apace, And carry death within;

Then break, and scarcely leave a trace, To show that we have been.

The man, the wisest of our kind,
Who length of days had seen,
To birth and death a time assigned,
But none to life between ;-
Yet O! what consequences close
This transient state below!
Eternal joys: or, losing those,
Interminable wo!

THE LAW OF LOVE.

BLESSED is the man whose softening heart
Feels all another's pain;

To whom the supplicating eye

Was never raised in vain:

Whose breast expands with generous warmth, A stranger's woes to feel;

And bleeds in pity o'er the wound

He wants the power to heal.

He spreads his kind, supporting arms,
To every child of grief;

His secret bounty largely flows,
And brings unasked relief.

To gentle offices of love

His feet are never slow;

He views, through mercy's melting eye,
A brother in a foe.

Peace from the bosom of his God,
My peace to him I give;

And when he kneels before the throne,
His trembling soul shall live.

To him protection shall be shown,
And mercy from above

Descend on those who thus fulfil
The perfect law of love.

TIME.

TIME was, is past; thou canst not it recall:
Time is, thou hast; emplo; the portion small.
Time future is not; and may never be:
Time present is the only time for thee.

FRAILTY Of Man.

LET others boast how strong they be,
Nor death nor danger fear;
But we'll confess, O Lord, to thee,
What feeble things we are.

Fresh as the grass our bodies stand,
And flourish bright and gay;
A blasting wind sweeps o'er the land,
And fades the grass away.

Our life contains a thousand springs,
And dies if one go wrong;
Strange! that a harp of thousand strings
Should keep in tune so long.

'Tis God who made and keeps our frame.
In God alone we'll trust;
Salvation to the Almighty Name
That reared us from the dust.

SHORTNESS OF TIME.

The moments fly-a minute's gone!
The minutes fly-an hour is run!
The day is fled the night is here!
Thus flies a week-a month--a year.

A year-alas! how soon it's past;
Who knows but this may be my last!
A few short years, how soon they're fled,
And we are numbered with the dead.

INNOCENT EARTHLY PLEASURES

FEW rightly estimate the worth,

Of joys that spring and fade on earth;
They are not weeds we should despise,
They are not fruits of Paradise;
But will flowers in the pilgrim's way
That cheer, yet not protract his stay,
Which he dare not too fondly clasp,
Lest they should perish in his grasp;
And yet may view, and wisely love,
As proofs and types of joys above..

RESIGNATION.

ONE prayer I have,—all prayers in one,—
When I am wholly thine:

Thy will, my God, thy will be done,

And let that will be mine.

All-wise, almighty, and all-good,
In thee I firmly trust:

Thy ways, unknown or understood,
Are merciful and just.

Is life with many comforts crowned,
Upheld in peace and health,
With dear affections twined around?
-Lord, in my time of wealth,-
May I remember, that to thee,
Whate'er I have I owe:
And back, in gratitude from me,
May of all thy bounties flow.
Thy gifts are only then enjoyed,
When used as talents lent;
Those talents only well employed,
When in thy service spent.
And though thy wisdom takes away.
Shall I arraign thy will?

No, let me bless thy name, and say,
"The Lord is gracious still."
A pilgrim through the earth I roam,
Of nothing long possessed,
And all must fall when I go hoine
For this is not my rest.

Write but my name upon the roll
Of thy redeemed above;

Then, heart, and mind, and strength, and soul,
Shall love thee for thy love.

DEPENDANCE ON GOD.

E'EN as the needle, that directs the hour,
Touched with the loadstone, by the secret power
Of hidden nature, points upon the Pole;
E'en so the wavering powers of my soul,
Touched by the virtue of thy Spirit, flee
From what is earth, and point alone to thee.
When I have faith to hold thee by the hand,
I walk securely, and methinks I stand

More firm than Atlas; but when I forsake
The safe protection of thine arm, I quake

Like wind-shaked reeds, and have no strength at all,
But like a vine, the prop cut down, I fall.

[merged small][ocr errors][merged small]

But leaves the greenest will decay,And flowers the brightest fade away,

When autumn winds are sweeping, And be the household e'er so fair, The hand of death will soon be there,

And turn the scene to weeping.

Yet leaves again will clothe the trees, And lilies wave beneath the breeze,

When spring comes smiling hither; And friends who parted at the tomb, May yet renew their loveliest bloom, And meet in heaven together.

WATCHMAN! WHAT OF THE NIGHT.

WATCHMAN! tell us of the night,
What its signs of promise are?
Traveller! o'er yon mountain's height,
See that glory-beaming star!
Watchman! does its beauteous ray
Aught of hope or joy foretell?
Traveller! yes: it brings the day,-
Promised day of Israel!
Watchman! tell us of the night;
Higher yet that star ascends;
Traveller blessedness and light,
Peace and truth, its course portends
Watchman! will its beams alone

Gild the spot that gave them birth?
Traveller ages are its own,

And it bursts o'er all the earth.
Watchman! tell us of the night,
For the morning seems to dawn:
Traveller! darkness takes its flight,
Doubt and terror are withdrawn,
Watchman! let thy wanderings cease •
Hie thee to thy quiet home:
Traveller! lo! the Prince of peace,
Lo! the Son of God is come!

THE SEASONS.

How pleasing is the voice
Of God our heavenly King
Who bids the frosts retire,
And wakes the lovely spring!
Bright suns arise,

The mild wind blows,
And beauty glows
Through earth and skies.

The morn, with glory crowned,
His hand arrays in smiles:
He bids the eve decline,
Rejoicing o'er the hills:
The evening breeze
His breath perfumes:
His beauty blooms
In flowers and trees.

With life he clothes the spring,-
The earth with summer warms:
He spreads the autumnal feast,
And rides on wintry storms:
His gifts divine,
Through all appear;
And round the year
His glories shine.

THE HARMONY OF LOVE.

Lord, subdue our selfish will;
Each to each our tempers suit

By thy modulating skill,

Heart to heart, as lute to lute. Sweetly on our spirits move;

Gently touch the trembling strings

Make the harmony of love

Music for the King of kings!

WHAT IS LIFE?

OH! what is life? 'Tis like a flower

That blossoms-and is gone :

It flourishes its little hour,

With all its beauty on :-
Death comes-and like a wintry day,
It cuts the lovely flower away.

Oh! what is life?-Tis like the bow
That glistens in the sky:
We love to see its colors glow-
But while we look they die;
Life fails as soon; to-day 'tis here-
To-morrow it may disappear.

Lord, what is life ?-If spent with thee,
In humble praise and prayer,
How long or short our life may be,

We feel no anxious care:

Though life depart, our joys shall last When life and all its joys are past.

THE WAVES.

WHEN on the giddy cliff I stand,
I see the billows roar,

And, breaking on the coral strand,
Whiten with foam the shore.

But 'tis in vain they strive to break
Beyond the bounds decreed;
"No farther come," let God but speak,
No farther they proceed.

Though furiously their heads they rear,
And mingle sea and skies,
They smooth as polished glass appear,
If" Peace, be still," he cries.

Shall winds and waves their God obey,
And I refuse to hear?

Shall he that bounds the flowing sea,
Not bind me with his fear?

O Thou who rulest seas and skies,
Corruption's flood control;
Nor let the waves of passion rise
Within my troubled soul.

Then I, within thy sacred mound,
Shall, in obedience blest,

Calm, gently flowing, kiss the bound,
And wait eternal rest.

MORNING.

HUES of the rich unfolding morn,
That, ere the glorious sun be born,
By some soft touch invisible
Around his path are taught to swell;-
Thou rustling breeze so fresh and gay,
That danced forth at opening day,
And brushing by with joyous wing,
Wakenest each little leaf to sing ;-
Ye fragrant clouds of dewy steam,
By which deep grove and tangled stream
Pay, for soft rains in season given,
Their tribute to the genial heaven ;-
Why waste your treasures of delight
Upon our thankless, joyless sight;
Who day by day to sin awake,
Seldom of heaven, and you partake?
Oh! timely happy, timely wise,
Hearts that with rising morn arise!
Eves that the beam celestial view,
Which evermore makes all things new!
New every morning is the love

Our wakening and uprising prove;
Through sleep and darkness safely brought,
Restored to lift, and power, and thought.
New mercies each returning day,
Hover around us while we pray;

New perils past, new sins forgiven,

New thoughts of God, new hopes of heaven.
If on our daily course our mind

Be set to hallow all we find,
New treasure, still of countless price,
God will provide for sacrifice.
Old friends, old scenes, will lovelier be,
As more of heaven in each we see;
Some softening gleam of love and prayer
Shall dawn on every cross and care.
As for some dear familiar strain
Untired we ask, and ask again,
Ever, in its melodious store,
Finding a spell unheard before;
Such is the bliss of souls serene,

When they have sworn, and steadfast mean,
Counting the cost, in all t' espy
Their God, in all themselves deny.

O could we learn that sacrifice,
What lights would around us rise!
How would our hearts with wisdom talk
Along life's dullest, dreariest walk!
We need not bid for cloistered cell,
Our neighbor and our work farewell,
Nor strive to wind ourselves too high
For sinful man beneath the sky:
The trivial round, the common task,
Would furnish all we ought to ask;
Room to deny ourselves; a road
To bring us, daily, nearer God.

GOD UNSEARCHABLE.

CANST thou by searching find out God,
The Almighty to perfection trace?

And pierce the clouds whose darkness shrouds
The brightness of Jehovah's face?

Proud, daring man, this thought of thine
Proves thee the dupe of Satan's art:
The vain attempt must bring contempt
On thy rebellious head and heart.

First try the things thy senses reach,
Their nature, power, and essence tell;
If here thou fall, canst thou prevail
To £nd out the Unsearchable?

Go count the stars and call their names,
Sweep with the comet through the sky;
Fix thy bold gaze on the sun's blaze,
With an undazzled, tearless eye.

Go sleep upon the thunder-cloud,

Grasp the forked lightning in thy hand;
Proceed to find whence comes the wind,
And trace its path o'er sea and land.

Go and unbend the rainbow's arch,
Untwist its robes of various hues;
Then view the source, and trace the course,
Of rain, hail, vapors, and the dews.

Go view the everlasting snows

Moistening the axles of the poles; Then boldly probe straight through the globe, And span the line on which it rolls.

Should thy mind shrink from such attempts,
View the least work of Deity;

The blades of grass thy skill surpass,
And thou art baffled by a fly.

If every work of God is full

Of mysteries we can never scan,
His word 'tis plain, must then contain
Wonders above the powers of man.

Before the great Unsearchable
With lowliness and love I'll bend;
And gladly trace in Jesus face
My Gol, my Savior, and my Friend.

MY DYING MOTHER.

I Do remember, and will ne'er forget,

The dying eye!-That eye alone was bright,
And brighter grew, as nearer death approached:
As I have seen the gentle little flower
Look fairest in the silver beam which fell,
Reflected from the thunder cloud that soon
Came down, and o'er the desert scattered far
And wide its loveliness. She made a sign

To bring her babe-'twas brought and by her placed;
She looked upon its face that neither smiled

Nor wept, nor knew who gazed upon it; and laid

Her hand upon its little breast, and sought
For it, with look that seemed to penetrate
The heavens, unutterable blessings, such
As God to dying parents only granted,
For infants left behind them in the world.

"God keep my child!" we heard her say, and heard
No more. The Angel of the Covenant
Was come, and faithful to his promise stood
Prepared to walk with her through death's dark vale.
And now her eyes grew bright, and brighter still,
Too bright for ours to look upon, suffused
With many tears; and closed without a cloud
They set as sets the morning star, which goes
Not down behind the darkened west, nor hides
Obscured among the tempests of the sky,
But melts away into the light of heaven.

BLESSED BE THY NAME FOR EVER.

BLESSED be thy name for ever,
Thou of life the guard and giver:
Thou canst guard thy creatures sleeping;
Heal the heart long broke with weeping.

God of stillness and of motion,

Of the desert and the ocean,
Cf the mountain, rock, and river,
Blessed be thy name for ever.

Thou who slumberest not nor sleepest,
Blessed are they thou kindly keepest;
God of evening's parting ray,

Of midnight's gloom, and dawning day,
That rises from the azure sea,
Like breathings of eternity;
God of life! that fade shall never,
Blessed be thy name for ever!

COMMITTING OUR WAYS UNTO THE LORD.

COMMIT thou all thy griefs

And ways into his hands,

To his sure truth and tender care,

Who heaven and earth commands:

Who points the clouds their course,
Whom winds and seas obey,
He shall direct thy wandering feet,
He shall prepare thy way.

Put thou thy trust in God,

In duty's path go on;

Fix on his word thy steadfast eye,
So shall thy work be done :

No profit canst thou gain

By self-consuming care:

To him commend thy cause, his ear
Attends the softest prayer.

Give to the winds thy tears,

Hope, and be undismayed;

God hears thy sighs, and counts thy tears, God shall lift up thy head.

Through waves, and clouds, and storms,
He gently clears thy way:

Wait thou his time-thy darkest night
Shall end in brightest day.

PRAYER.

PRAYER is the soul's sincere desire,
Uttered or unexpressed;

The motion of a hidden fire

That trembles in the breast.
Prayer is the burden of a sigh
The falling of a tear;
The upward glancing of an eye,
When none but God is near.

Prayer is the simplest form of speech
That infant lips can try;
Prayer the sublimest strains that reach
The Majesty on high.

Prayer is the Christian's vital breath,
The Christian's native air,

His watchword at the gates of death,
He enters heaven with prayer.

Prayer is the contrite sinner's voice,
Returning from his ways;
While angels in their songs rejoice,
And cry, "Behold he prays."
The saints, in prayer, appear as one,
In word, in deed, and mind,
While with the Father and his Son
Their fellowship they find.

Nor prayer is made on earth alone:
The Holy Spirit pleads;

And Jesus, on the eternal throne,
For mourners intercedes.

O thou, by whom we come to God,
The Life, the Truth, the Way;
The path of prayer thyself hast trod.
Lord, teach us how to pray.

THE HAPPINESS OF THE GODLY
HAPPY the men whose bliss supreme
Flows from a source on high,
And flows in one perpetual stream,
When earthly springs are dry.
Contentment makes their little-more;
And sweetens good possessed;
While faith foretastes the joys in store,
And makes them doubly blessed.

If Providence their comforts shroud,
And dark distresses lour;
Hope paints its rainbow on the cloud,

And grace shines through the shower. What troubles can their hearts o'erwhelm, Who view a Savior near?

Whose Father sits and guides the helm;
Whose voice forbids their fear?

Let tempests rage, and billows rise,
And mortal firmness shrink;
Their anchor fastens in the skies;

Their bark, no storm can sink!

God is their joy and portion still,
When earthly good retires;
And shall their hearts sustain and fill,
When earth itself expires.

WISDOM.

AH! when did wisdom covet length of days?
Or seek its bliss in pleasure, wealth, or praise }
No: wisdom views, with an indifferent eye,
All finite joys, all blessings born to die.
The soul on earth is an immortal guest,
Compelled to starve at an unreal feast;

A spark that upward tends by nature's force,
A stream diverted from its parent source;
A drop dissevered from the boundless sea,

A moment parted from eternity!
A pilgrim panting for a rest to come;

An exile anxious for his native home.

THE WELCOME SABBATH. RETURN, thon wished and welcome guest; Thou day of holiness and rest!

Thou best, the dearest of the seven,
Emblem and harbinger of heaven!

YOUTH AND AGE.

THE seas are quiet when the winds are o'er
So calm are we when passions are no more!
For then we know how vain it was to boast
Of fleeting things so certain to be lost.

Clouds of affection from her younger eyes,
Conceals that emptiness which age descries:
The soul's dark cottage, battered and decayed,

Lets in new light through chinks that time has made.

Stronger be weakness, wiser men become

As they draw near to their eternal home;
Leaving the old, both worlds at once they view,
That stand upon the threshold of the new.

SABBATH EVENING.

Is there a time when moments flow,
More peacefully than all beside?

It is of all the times below,

A sabbath eve in summer tide. O then the setting sun smiles fair, And all below, and all above The different forms of nature wear One universal garb of love. And then the peace that Jesus beams, The life of grace, the death of sin, With nature's placid woods and streams, Is peace without, and peace within. Delightful scene! a world at rest, A God all love, no grief nor fear; A heavenly hope, a peaceful breast, A smile unsullied by a tear. If heaven be ever felt below,

A scene so heavenly sure as this May cause a heart on earth to know Some foretaste of celestial bliss. Delightful hour! how soon will night Spread her dark mantle o'er thy reign; And morrow's quick returning light Must call us to the world again. Yet will there dawn at last a day,

A sun that never sets shall rise; Night will not veil his ceaseless ray The heavenly sabbath never dies!

[ocr errors]

IS THERE AN UNBELIEVER?

Is there an unbeliever?

One man who walks the earth, And madly doubts that Providence Watched o'er him at his birth ?

He robs mankind for ever

Of hopes beyond the tomb; What gives he as a recompense? The brute's unhallowed doom.

In manhood's loftiest hour,

In health, and strength, and pride

Oh! lead his steps through valleys green, Where rills mid cowslips glide:

Climb nature's granite tower,

Where man hath rarely trod:

And will he then, in such a scene,
Deny there is a God?

Yes the proud heart will ever
Prompt the false tongue's reply!
An Omnipresent Providence
Stili madly he'll deny.
But see the unbeliever

Sinking in death's decay;

And hear the cry of penitence !—
He never learned to pray!

OH, JUDAH!

Jerusalem mourneth-Jeremiah.

OH, Judah! thy dwellings are sad,
Thy children are weeping around,
In sackcloth their bosoms are clad

As they look on the famishing ground; In the deserts they make them a home, And the mountains awake to their cry; For the frown of Jehovah hath come,

And his anger is red in the sky.

Thy tender ones throng at the brink,

But the waters are gone from the well; They gaze on the rock, and they think

Of the gush of the stream from its cell; How they came to its margin before,

And drank in their innocent mirth; Away! it is sealed, and no more Shall the fountain give freshness to earth. The hearts of the mighty are bowed, And the lowly are haggard with care; The voices of mothers are loud,

As they shriek the wild note of despair. On, Jerusalem! mourn through thy halls, And bend to the dust in thy shame, For the doom that thy spirit appals, Is famine, the sword, and the flame!

SOUND AN ALARM!

My arms! Against this Gorgias will I go!
The Dumean Governor shall know
How vain, how ineffective, his design
While rage his leader and Jehovah mine.
Sound an alarm!--Your silver trumpets sound,
And call the brave, and only brave, around!
Who listeth, follow to the field again-
Justice and courage is a thousand men!

ANGELS EVER BRIGHT AND FAIR.

ANGELS ever bright and fair,
Take, O take me to your care.
Speed to your own courts my flight,
Clad in robes of virgin white.

ROCKED IN THE CRADLE OF THE DEEP.

ROCKED in the cradle of the deep,

I lay me down in peace to sleep;
Secure I rest upon the wave,

For thou, oh! Lord, hast power to save.
I know thou wilt not slight my call!
For thou dost mark the sparrow's fall!
And calm and peaceful is my sleep,
Rocked in the cradle of the deep.

And such the trust that still were mine,
Though stormy winds swept o'er the brine.
Or though the tempest's fiery breath
Roused from sleep to wreck and death!

In ocean cave still safe with thee,
The germe of immortality;
And calm and peaceful is my sleep,
Rocked in the cradle of the deep.
MRS. WILLARD.

HAGAR IN THE DESERT. O'ER the desert, vast and dreary, Hagar's fainting footsteps passed; While her soul of life, nigh weary, Shrank beneath the burning blast. As her mournful journey wending, Through that vale of death she strayed, For the child her steps attending, Thus, the outcast mother prayed!

« FöregåendeFortsätt »