Imatges de pàgina
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SONGS FOR THE SABBATH.

THE WORKS OF CREATION.
I FRAISED the Earth, in beauty seen
With garlands gay of various green;
I praised the Sea, whose ample field
Shone glorious as a silver shield;
And Earth and Ocean seemed to say,
"Our beauties are but for to-day."

I praised the Sun, whose chariot rolled
On wheels of amber and of gold;
I praised the Moon, whose softer eye
Gleamed sweetly through the summer sky;
And Moon and Sun in answer said,
"Our days of light are numbered."
O God! O good beyond compare !
If thus thy meaner works are fair,
If thus thy beauties gild the span
Of ruined earth and sinful man,
How glorious must the mansion be

Where thy redeemed shall dwell with thee!

THE WORLD.

UNTHINKING, idle, wild, and young,

I laughed, and talked, and danced and sung;
And proud of health, of freedom vain,
Dreamed not of sorrow, care, or pain:
Concluding, in those hours of glee,
That all the world was made for me.

But when the days of trial came,
When sickness shook this trembling frame,
When folly's gay pursuits were o'er,
And I could dance and sing no more,
It then occurred, how sad 'twould be,
Were this world, only, made for me!

LIFE FADING.

SWEET day, so cool, so calm, so bright,
Bridal of earth and sky!
The dew shall weep thy fall to-night;
For thou, alas! must die.

Sweet rose, in air whose odors wave,
And color charms the eye!
Thy root is ever in its grave,
And thou, alas! must die.

Sweet spring, of days and roses made,
Whose charms for beauty vie!
Thy days depart, thy roses fade,
Thou, too, alas! must die.

Be wise then, Christian, while you may,
For swiftly time is flying;
Tthoughtless man, that laughs to-day,
fo-morrow will be dying.

CHRISTIAN HOPE.

HOPE, with uplifted foot, set free from earth,
Pants for the place of its ethereal birth,
On steady wing, flies through the immense abyss,
Plucks amaranthine joys from bowers of bliss,
And crowns the soul while yet a sufferer here,
With wreaths like those angelic spirits wear.

EARLY PIETY.

By cool Siloam's shady rill
How sweet the lily grows!
How sweet the breath beneath the hill
Of Sharon's dewy rose !

Lo! such the child whose early feet

The paths of peace have trod,

Whose secret heart with influence sweet
Is upward drawn to God!

By cool Siloam's shady rill
The lily must decay;

The rose that blooms beneath the hill
Must shortly fade away.

And soon, too soon, the wintry hour

Of man's maturer age

Will shake the soul with sorrow's power,
And stormy passion's rage!

O thou, whose infant feet were found
Within thy Father's shrine!

Whose years with changeless virtue crowd
Were all alike divine!

Dependant on thy bounteous breath,
We seek thy grace alone,

In childhood, manhood, age, and death,
To keep us still thy own!

HEAVEN AND EARTH. Ask the bird that soars on high, Midway between earth and sky What he sees, when he is there, Of the world's receding sphere. He could teach, if he might say, Heavenward as he bends his way, How the wide world lessens fast, In the growing distance lost. Lesser objects lost to view, Great ones are but little nowAll that once were bright and fair Lose their teints and disappear. Doubt you, then, why they who rise Near and nearer to the skies, See on earth's diminished sphere. Little that is worth their care? They whose bosoms once could joy In the vain world's vainest toyThey whose hearts could sometimes feel E'en the slightest touch of illFrom the world by sorrow riven, Gone already half to heavenLook with calmness on a scene, Scarcely now within their ken. Deem not that the heart is chilled,

Which, though once with anguish filled, Such emotions all forgot,

Smiles and says, "It matters not."

THE DAY OF JUDGMENT. GREAT God! what do I see and hear! The end of things created: The Judge of all men doth appear In clouds of glory seated; The trumpet sounds, the graves restore The dead which they contained before. Prepare, my soul, to meet nim.

FRAILTY OF MAN.

LIKE to the falling of a star,
Or as the flights of eagles are,
Or like the fresh spring's gaudy hue,
Or silver drops of morning dew;

Or like a wind that chafes the flood,
Or bubbles which on water stood;
E'en such is man, whose borrowed light
Is straight called in, and paid to-night.

The wind blows out, the bubble dies:
The spring entombed in autumn lies;
The dew dries up, the star is shot;
The flight is past-and man forgot.

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THE STAR OF THE EAST.

BRIGHTEST and best of the sons of the morning! Dawn on our darkness, and lend us thine aid, Star of the East, the horizon adorning,

Guide where our infant Redeemer is laid! Cold on his cradle the dewdrops are shining, Low lies his head with the beasts of the stall, Angels adore him in slumber reclining,

Maker, and Monarch, and Savior of all. Say, snall we yield him, in costly devotion,

Odors of Edom, and offerings divine? Gems of the mountain, and pearls of the ocean, Myrrh from the forest, or gold from the mine?

Vainly we offer each ample oblation,

Vainly with gifts would his favor secure: Richer by far is the heart's adoration;

Dearer to God are the prayers of the poor.

Brightest and best of the sons of the morning! Dawn on our darkness, and lend us thine aid, Star of the East, the horizon adorning,

Guide where our infant Redeemer is laid!

RACHEL WEEPING.

O WEEP not o'er thy children's tomb,
O Rachel, weep not so!
The bud is cropped by martyrdom,

The flower in heaven shall blow!

Firstlings of faith! the murderer's knife Has missed its deadliest aim!

The God for whom they gave their life, For them to suffer came!

Though feeble were their days and few, Baptized in blood and pain,

He knows them, whom they never knew, And they shall live again.

Then weep not o'er thy children's tomb,
O Rachel, weep not so!

The bud is cropped by martyrdom,
The flower in heaven shall blow:

THE GUIDANCE OF GOD.

THE golden palace of my God
Towering above the clouds I see:
Beyond the cherub's bright abode,
Higher than angel's thoughts can be.
How can I in those courts appear
Without a wedding garment on?
Conduct me, thou Life-giver there,

Conduct me to thy glorious throne! And clothe me with thy robes of light, And lead me through sin's darksome night, My Savior and my Gcd.

THE WORKS OF GOD.

THE God of nature and of grace
In all his works appears;

His goodness through the earth we trace,
His grandeur in the spheres.
Behold this fair and fertile globe,

By him in wisdom planned;
"Twas he who girded, like a robe,

The ocean round the land.

Lift to the arch of heaven your eye,
Thither his path pursue;

His glory, boundless as the sky,
O'erwhelms the wondering view.

He bows the heavens-the mountains stand
A highway for their God;

He walks amidst the desert land-
'Tis Eden where he trod.

The forests in his strength rejoice:
Hark! on the evening breeze,
As once of old his solemn voice
Is heard among the trees.
Here on the hills he feeds his herds,
His flocks on yonder plains:
His praise is warbled by the birds,
O could we catch their strains :-
Mount with the lark, and bear our song
Up to the gates of light;
Or, with the nightingale, prolong
Our numbers through the night!

In every stream his bounty flows,
Diffusing joy and wealth;
In every breeze his spirit blows

The breath of life and health.

His blessings fall in plenteous showers

Upon the lap of earth,

That teems with foliage, fruit, and flowers,
And rings with infant mirth.

If God has made this world so fair
Where sin and death abound,
How beautiful, beyond compare,
Will paradise be found!

MAN'S FRAILTY.

How few and evil are thy days,
Oh, man, of woman born!
Trouble and peril haunt thy ways,
-Forth like a flower at morn,
The tender infant springs to light:
Youth blossoms with the breeze;
Age, withering age, is cropped ere night
-Man like a shadow flees.

And dost thou look on such a one?
Will God to judgment call

A worm, for what a worm hath done
Against the Lord of all?
As fall the waters from the deep,
As summer brooks run dry,
Man lieth down in dreamless sleep;
-Our life is vanity.

Man lieth down, no more to wake,
Till yonder arching sphere
Shall with a roll of thunder break,
And nature disappear.

-O hide me till thy wrath be past,
Thou, who canst kill or save;
Hide me, where hope may anchor fast,
In my Redeemer's grave.

EMBLEM OF A DEPARTING SAINT.

A CLOUD lay cradled near the setting sun,
A gleam of crimson tinged its braided snows:
Long had I watched the glory moving on,

O'er the still radiance of the lake below:
Tranquil its spirit seemed, and floated slow,

E'en in its very motion there was rest, While every breath of eve that chanced to blow, Wafted the traveller to the beauteous west. Emblem methought, of the departed soul,

To whose white robe the gleam of bliss is given, And by the breath of mercy made to roll

Right onward to the golden gates of heaven:
Where to the eye of faith peaceful lies,
And tells to man his glorious destinies.

SUPERIORITY TO THE WORLD.
AH! why should this immortal mind,
Enslaved by sense, be thus confined,
And never, never rise?
Why, thus amused with empty toys,
And soothed with visionary joys,
Forget her native skies!

The mind was formed to mount sublime,
Beyond the narrow bounds of time,

To everlasting things;

But earthly vapors cloud her sight,
And hang with cold oppressive weight
Upon her drooping wings.

The world employs its various snares,
Of hopes and pleasures, pains and cares,
And chained to earth I lie:
When shall my fettered powers be free,
And leave these seats of vanity,

And upward learn to fly !

Bright scenes of bliss, unclouded skies,
Invite my soul-O could I rise,

Nor leave a thought below!
I'd bid farewell to anxious care,
And say to every tempting snare,
Heaven calls, and I must go.

Heaven calls, and can I yet delay ?
Can aught on earth engage my stay?
Ah, wretched, lingering heart!

Come, Lord, with strength, and life and light,
Assist and guide my upward flight,

And bid the world depart.

THE PROVIDENCE OF GOD.
Lo the lilies of the field,
How their leaves instruction yield!
Hark to nature's lesson given
By the cheerful birds of heaven!
Every bush and tufted tree
Warbles sweet philosophy;
"Mortal, fly from doubt and sorrow;
God provideth for the morrow!
"Say, with richer crimson glows
The kingly mantle than the rose?
Say, have kings more wholesome fare
Than we poor citizens of air?
Barns nor hoarded grain have we,
Yet we carol merrily.

Mortal, fly from doubt and sorrow,
God provideth for the morrow!
"One there lives whose guardian eye
Guides our humble destiny;

One there lives, who, Lord of all,
Keeps our feathers lest they fall:
Pass we blithely then, the time,
Fearless of the snare and lime,

Free from doubt and faithless sorrow:
God provideth for the morrow!"

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"SERVANT of God! well done;
Rest from thy loved employ;
The battle fought, the victory won,
Enter thy Master's joy."

-The voice at midnight came;
He started up to hear,

A mortal arrow pierced his frame;
He fell but felt no fear.

Tranquil amidst alarms,
It found him in the field,

A veteran slumbering on his arms,
Beneath his red-cross shield:
His sword was in his hand,
Still warm with recent fight;
Ready that moment, at command,
Through rock and steel to smite.

It was a two-edged blade,

Of heavenly temper keen:

And double were the wounds it made,
Where'cr it smote between :
'Twas death to sin;-'twas life
To all that mourned for sin;
It kindled, and it silenced, strife,
Made war, and peace, within.
Oft with its fiery force,

His arm had quelled the foe,
And laid, resistless in his course,
The alien-armies low.
Bent on such glorious toils,
The world to him was loss;

Yet all his trophies, all his spoils,

He hung upon the cross.

At midnight came the cry,
"To meet thy God prepare!"

He woke, and caught his captain's eye;
Then, strong in faith and prayer,
His spirit, with a bound,

Burst its encumbering clay,

His tent, at sunrise on the ground,

A darkened ruin lay.

The pains of death are past,

Labor and sorrow cease,

And, life's long warfare closed at last,
His soul is found in peace.
Soldier of Christ, well done;
Praise be thy new employ;
And while eternal ages run,
Rest in thy Savior's joy.

HEAVEN.

FRIEND after friend departs,
Who hath not lost a friend?
There is no union here of hearts,
That finds not here an end;
Were this frail world our final rest,
Living or dying, none were blessed.
Beyond the flight of time,-

Beyond the reign of death,-
There surely is some blessed clime
Where life is not a breath;
Nor life's affections, transient fire,
Whose sparks fly upward and expire!
There is a world above,

Where parting is unknown;
A long eternity of love,

Formed for the good alone;
And faith beholds the dying, here,
Translated to that glorious sphere.

Thus star by star declines,

Till all are passed away;

As morning high and higher shines,
To pure and perfect day :

Nor sink those stars in empty night,

But hide themselves in heaven's own light.

LONGING FOR HEAVEN.

RISE, my soul, and stretch thy wings,
Thy better portion trace;
Rise from transitory things,

Toward heaven, thy native place.
Sun, and moon, and stars, decay,
Time shall soon this earth remove;
Rise, my soul, and haste away
To seats prepared above.

Rivers to the ocean run,

Nor stay in all their course:
Fire ascending seeks the sun,
Both speed them to their source.
So a soul new-born of God

Pants to view his glorious face;
Upward tends to his abode,

To rest in his embrace.

Cease, ye pilgrins, cease to mourn,
Press onward to the prize:
Soon the Savior will return

Triumphant in the skies.

Yet a season, and you know

Happy entrance will be given,

All our sorrows left below,

And earth exchanged for heaven.

GOD'S PREVENTING GRACE.

GOD of my life, how good, how wise,
Thy judgments on my soul have been!
They were but mercies in disguise,

The painful remedies of sin:
How different now thy ways appear,
Most merciful, when most severe !
Since first the maze of life I trod,

Hast thou not hedged about my way, My worldly vain designs withstood,

And robbed my passions of their prey,
Withheld the fuel from the fire,
And crossed my every fond desire?

How oft didst thou my soul withhold,
And baffle my pursuit of fame,
And mortify my lust of gold,

And blast me in my surest aim;
Withdraw my animal delight,

And starve my grovelling appetite!

Thou wouldst not let the captive go,
Or leave me to my carnal will;
Thy love forbade my rest below,

Thy patient love pursued me still,
And forced me from my sin to part,
And tore the idol from my heart.

But can I now the loss lament,

Or murmur at thy friendly blow? Thy friendly blow my heart hath rent, From every seeming good below; Thrice happy loss which makes me see My happiness alone in thee!

UNCERTAINTY OF LIFE.
WHAT is life? 'tis but a vapor;
Soon it vanishes away:
Life is like a dying taper:

O, my soul, why wish to stay?
Why not spread thy wings and fly
Straight to yonder world of joy?
See that glory, how resplendeat!
Brighter far than fancy paints,
There, in majesty transcendent,

Jesus reigns, the King of saints.
Spread thy wings, my soul, and fly
Straight to yonder world of joy!

Joyful crowds, his throne surrounding,
Sing with rapture of his love:
Through the heavens his praises sounding,
Filling all the courts above.
Spread thy wings, my soul, and fly
Straight to yonder world of joy!

Go and share his people's glory,
'Midst the ransomed crowd appear;
Thine a joyful, wondrous story:
One that angels love to hear.
Spread thy wings, my soul and fly
Straight to yonder world of joy!

JACOB WRESTLING WITH THE ANGEL

PART FIRST.

COME, O thou traveller unknown,
Whom still I hold, but can not see
My company before is gone,
And I am left alone with thee;
With thee all night I mean to stay,
And wrestle till the break of day.

I need not tell thee who I am;
My misery and sin declare:
Thyself hast called me by my name
Look on thy hands, and read it there
But who, I ask thee, who art thou?
Tell me thy name, and tell me now.
In vain thou strugglest to get free,
I never will unloose my hold;
Art thou the Man that died for me?
The secret of thy love unfold:
Wrestling, I will not let thee go,
Till I thy name, thy nature know.

Wilt thou not yet to me reveal
Thy new unutterable name!
Tell me, I still beseech thee, tell?
To know it now, resolved I am:
Wrestling, I will not let thee go,
Till I thy name, thy nature know.

What though my shrinking flesh complain,
And murmur to contend so long,

I rise superior to my pain:
When I am weak, then I am strong:
And when my all of strength shall fail,

I shall with the God man prevail.

PART SECOND.

YIELD to me now, for I am weak;
But confident in self despair:
Speak to my heart, in blessings speak;
Be conquered by my instant prayer:
Speak, or thou never hence shall move,
And tell me if thy name be Love.

'Tis Love! 'tis Love! Thou diedst for me;
I hear thy whisper in my heart:
The morning breaks, the shadows flee;
Pure, Universal Love, thou art;
To me, to all, thy bowels move;
Thy nature and thy name is Love.

My prayer hath power with God; the grace
Unspeakable I now receive;

Through faith I see thee face to face;
I see thee face to face, and live;
In vain I have not wept and strove;
Thy nature and thy name is Love.
I know thee, Savior, who thou art,
Jesus, the fecble sinner's friend :
Nor wilt thou with the night depart,
But stay and love me to the end:
Thy mercies never shall remove;
Thy nature and thy name is Love.

The Sun of Righteousness on me
Hath risen, with healing on his wings;
Withered my nature's strength; from thee
My soul its life and succor brings;
My help is all laid up above;
Thy nature and thy name is Love.
Contented now, upon my thigh
I halt, till life's short journey end;
All helplessness, all weakness, I
On Thee alone for strength depend;
Nor have I power from thee to move :
Thy nature and thy name is Love.

Lame as I am, I take the prey;
Hell, earth, and sin, with ease o'ercome;
I leap for joy, pursue my way,
And, as a bounding hart, fly home;
Through all eternity to prove,
Thy nature and thy name is Love.

A FATHER LEAVING HIS FAMILY TO GOD.

AMID the anguish and the strife,

That shrinking nature fears,

Look gently down, great Source of life,
And dry death's starting tears!

Serene, like Jacob, we would die,

And "gather up our feet;"

Would chide the lingering hours, and fly
Our Savior God to meet.

Our dearest comforts we could leave.
With glory in our eyes:

Would wipe the tears of those that grieve,
And point them to the skies.

Our trembling lips, if thou art nigh,
When life's sad hours are few,
With joy shall say-" Behold we die,
But God shall be with you."

A REFLECTION AT SEA. SEE how beneath the moonbeam's smile Yon little billow heaves its breast, And foams and sparkles for awhile,

And murmuring then subsides to rest, Thus man, the sport of bliss and care, Rises on time's eventful sea, And having swelled a moment there, Thus melts into eternity.

THE HEAVENLY JERUSALEM.

JERUSALEM! my happy home!

Name ever dear to me!

When shall my labors have an end,

In joy, and peace, and thee?

When shall these eyes thy heaven-built walls
And pearly gates behold?

Thy bulwarks, with salvation strong,
And streets of shining gold?

O when, thou city of my God,
Shall I thy courts ascend,

Where congregations ne'er break up,
And sabbaths have no end?

There happier bowers than Eden's bloom,
Nor sin nor sorrow know;

Blessed seats! through rude and stormy scenes
I onward press to you.

Why should I shrink at pain and wo?

Or feel, at death, dismay?

I've Canaan's goodly land in view,
And realms of endless day.

Apostles, martyrs, prophets, there,
Around my Savior stand;

And soon my friends in Christ below
Will join the glorious band.
Jerusalem! my happy home!

My soul still pants for thee;
Then shall my labors have an end,
When I thy joys shall see.

SELF-EXAMINATION.

AT evening to myself I say,
My soul, where hast thou gleaned to-day,
Thy labors how bestowed?
What hast thou rightly said or done?
What grace attained, or knowledge won,
In following after God?

LITANY.

By thy birth and early years,
By thy human griefs and fears;
By thy fasting and distress;
In the lonely wilderness;
By thy victory, in the hour
Of the subtle tempter's power -
Jesus! look with pitying eye,
Hear our solemn litany.

By the sympathy that wept

O'er the grave where Lazarus slept,
By thy bitter tears that flowed
Over Salem's lost abode;
By the troubled sigh that told
Treason lurked within thy fold-
Jesus! look with pitying eye,
Hear our solemn litany.

By thine hour of dark despan;
By thine agony of prayer;
By the purple robe of scorn,
By thy wounds, thy crown of thorn,
Cross and passion, pangs and cries;
By thy perfect sacrifice-
Jesus! look with pitying eye,
Hear our solemn litany.

By thy deep expiring groan;
By the sealed sepulchral stone;
By thy triumph o'er the grave;
By thy power from death to save-
Mighty God! ascended Lord!
To thy throne in heaven restored
Prince and Savior hear the cry
Of our solemn litany.

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