HYMN OF THE WALDENSES. Then the foul power of priestly sin and all Thou shalt raise up the trampled and oppressed, And thy delivered saints shall dwell in rest. 245 SONG OF THE STARS. WHEN the radiant morn of creation broke, And the empty realms of darkness and death In the joy of youth as they darted away, And this was the song the bright ones sung. "Away, away, through the wide, wide sky,- "For the source of glory uncovers his face, SONG OF THE STARS. “Look, look, through our glittering ranks afar, In the infinite azure, star after star, How they brighten and bloom as they swiftly pass! And the path of the gentle winds is seen, 247 Where the small waves dance, and the young woods lean. "And see, where the brighter day-beams pour, "Away, away! in our blossoming bowers, "Glide on in your beauty, ye youthful spheres, The boundless visible smile of Him, To the veil of whose brow your lamps are dim." HYMN OF THE CITY. NOT in the solitude Alone, may man commune with Heaven, or see Only in savage wood And sunny vale, the present Deity; Or only hear his voice Where the winds whisper and the waves rejoice. Even here do I behold Thy steps, Almighty!—here, amidst the crowd With everlasting murmur, deep and loud— 'Mongst the proud piles, the work of human kind Thy golden sunshine comes From the round heaven, and on their dwellings lies, And lights their inner homes— For them thou fill'st with air the unbounded skies, And givest them the stores Of ocean, and the harvests of its shores. Thy spirit is around, Quickening the restless mass that sweeps along; HYMN OF THE CITY. And this eternal sound- Voices and footfalls of the numberless throng Like the resounding sea, Or like the rainy tempest, speaks of thee. And when the hours of rest The quiet of that moment, too, is thine; The vast and helpless city while it sleeps. 249 |