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LIFE COMPARED TO A RIVER.
Secure from every mortal care,

By sin and sorrow vexed no more,
Eternal happiness they share,

Who are not lost, but gone before.

To Zion's peaceful courts above,
In faith triumphant may we soar,
Embracing in the arms of love

The friends not lost, but gone before.

On Jordan's bank, whene'er we come,
And hear the swelling waters roar,
Jesus, convey us safely home,

To friends not lost, but gone before.

LOST DAYS.

THE lost days of my life until to-day,

What were they, could I see them on the street
Lie as they fell? Would they be ears of wheat
Sown once for food, but trodden into clay ?
Or golden coins squandered and still to pay?
Or drops of blood dabbling the guilty feet?
Or such spilt water as in dreams must cheat
The throats of men in hell, who thirst alway?
I do not see them here; but after death

God knows I know the faces I shall see,
Each one a murdered self, with low lost breath:
"I am thyself what hast thou done to me?"
"And I-and I-thyself" (lo! each one saith),
"And thou thyself to all eternity!"

LIFE COMPARED TO A RIVER.

RIVER, river, little river,

Bright you sparkle on your way,

O'er the yellow pebbles dancing,

Through the flowers and foliage glancing,

Like a child at play.

River, river, swelling river,

On you rush, o'er rough and smooth,

Louder, faster, brawling, leaping

Over rocks, by rose-banks sweeping

Like impetuous youth.

LIFE, DEATH, AND ETERNITY.

River, river, brimming river,

Broad and deep, and still as Time; Seeming still-yet still in motion,

Tending onward to the ocean,

Just like mortal prime.

River, river, rapid river!

Swifter now you slip away;

Swift and silent as an arrow;

Through a channel dark and narrow,

Like life's closing day.

River, river, headlong river,

Down you dash into the sea;

Sea that line hath never sounded,

Sea that voyage hath never rounded,
Like eternity.

LIFE, DEATH, AND ETERNITY.

A SHADOW moving by one's side,

That would a substance scem-
That is, yet is not, though descried,—
Like skies beneath the stream;
A tree that's ever in the bloom,
Whose fruit is ever ripe;
A wish for joys that never come,
Such are the hopes of life.

A dark, inevitable night,

A blank that will remain;
A waiting for the morning light,
When waiting is in vain ;
A gulf where pathway never led
To show the depth beneath;
A thing we know not, yet we dread:
That dreaded thing is death.

The vaulted void of purple sky

That everywhere extends,

That stretches from the dazzled eye,

In space that never ends;

A morning whose uprisen sun

No setting e'er shall see;

A day that comes without a noon :
Such is eternity.

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WEARIED.

WOULD'ST thou be there to meet those long-lost faces
Watching o'er us, though unseen, from yon bright land above;
Waiting to waft us from this shore of sadness,

To that love-lighted home,--to God's own Land of Love.

Would'st thou be there, O lonesome heart and weary,
Bereft of all but hope to meet earth's hopes in heaven;
Little hands are stretching forth in thy dreams to guide thee-
God's gifts but tasted, and from this cold world riven.

Would'st thou be there, O fainting one, with travel;

Eyes now bedimmed with age, with tottering steps and slow; No rest is here, and life is but a vapour,

Green pastures wait for thee beyond the reach of woe.

Wearied and faint with grief and sorrow laden,

Life's day will soon be o'er and nightless day will shine;

Earth's joys do fade—beyond is Life eternal,
Strive, wearied one, and trust that Life is thine.

WAVES.

THE Psalmist cried,

With the strong voice of the soul's agony,

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Thy waves and billows have gone over me!"
Rule Thou the raging of the angry sea:

Stay Thou the tide.

Ah, this deep flood!

"Thou hast afflicted me with all Thy waves ;"
O'er my sad spirit how the tempest raves!
But is not Thine the only hand that saves ?-
Lord, Thou art good!

Hast Thou not said—

"When through the deepest waters thou must go,
The swelling waters shall not overflow ?"
And every sinking struggle Thou dost know
Where I am led.

And yet O King!

I know Thou'rt mightier than the waters' roar :
"Thy loving-kindness" help me to adore;
And "Thy song in the night," for evermore
Help me to sing.

From the wild waves a child would cry to Thee:
Lord, lull the lashings of grief's stormy sea,
For sorrow's waves are overwhelming me;
The tempest hold!

Now in the night

Of anguish and of weeping, let me hear,
Above death's dismal dirges, in my ear
Thy blessed voice, dispelling every fear
With heavenly light!

Father! I know,

Though darkness cloud my path in dreary night,
The foaming breakers all are crowned with light;
A shining track beams on above my sight:
Love made it so.

Help me endure,

And sink not in the surging waves that roll, Threat'ning to gulph me in their wild control; 'Hope is a precious anchor to the soul,"

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Steadfast and sure!

Peace, "peace, be still!”

Thou, who once held the waves within Thy palm,
Saviour! speak to my heart that blessed calm;
And teach my soul to chant a cheerful psalm,
Whate'er Thy will!

Help me to raise,

With humble resignation, such a song:
Some sinking one may listen, and be strong;
And chastened hearts shall yield to Thee, life-long
Anthems of praise.

Then, on the shore

Of the broad ocean of 'Thy love-the land
Where, for my coming, wait the angel band—
Fast to "the Rock of Ages" let Thy hand
Hold me, for evermore!

WATCH AND PRAY.

CHRISTIAN! seek not yet repose,
Cast thy dreams of ease away;
Thou art in the midst of foes,

Therefore watch and pray.

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GUARDIAN ANGELS.

Gird thy heavenly armour on,
Wear it ever, night and day;
Near thee lurks the evil one,

Therefore watch and pray.

Listen to thy sorrowing Lord,
Him thou lovest to obey;
It is He who speaks the word,
Therefore watch and pray.

"Twas by watching and by prayer
Holy men, of olden day,

Won the palms and crowns they wear;
Therefore watch and pray.

Watch, for thou thy guard must keep;
Pray, for God must speed thy way :
Narrow is the road and steep,
Therefore watch and pray.

GUARDIAN ANGELS.

GENTLY, gently fall sweet sleep
O'er thine eyelids, soft and deep,
Gently as the breath of flowers
In the bright noon's honeyed hours.
Gently as the dews of heaven
On the wild-rose at the even.

Thou art pure, immortal one;
Oh! be pure till life is done.
We would take thee in thy bloom
From the dim walls of the tomb;
We would bear thee, blest and fair,
Where thy home and kindred are.
Pray, then-strive to enter in
Through the cold world's woe and sin;
In each glad and gloomy hour,
In thy weakness, in thy power.
Pray-and we will pray for thee,
Strive-and we will strengthen thee.
Ay, on the land and on the seas,
In the tempest and the breeze,
In the solemn hush of night,
In the loud moon's burst of light,
Strive! oh strive !-around, above thee,
We will lead and we will love thee.