Imagens das páginas
PDF
ePub

I hold by nothing here below;
Appoint my journey, and I go; [pride,
Though pierced by scorn, oppressed by
I feel Thee good, feel nought beside.

No frowns of men can hurtful prove
To souls on fire with heavenly Love!

Though men and devils both condemn, No gloomy days arise from them.

Ah, then! to His embrace repair;
My soul, thou art no stranger there;
There Love divine shall be thy guard,
And peace and safety thy reward.

GRATITUDE AND LOVE TO GOD.

ALL are indebted much to Thee,
But I far more than all,

From many a deadly snare set free,
And raised from many a fall.
Overwhelm me from above,
Daily, with Thy boundless love!

What bonds of gratitude I feel

No language can declare; Beneath the oppressive weight I reel, 'Tis more than I can bear : When shall I that blessing prove, To return Thee Love for Love?

Spirit of Charity, dispense Thy grace to every heart; Expel all other spirits thence,

Drive self from every part;
Charity divine, draw nigh,
Break the chains in which we lie!

All selfish souls, whate'er they feign,
Have still a slavish lot;
They boast of liberty in vain,

Of Love, and feel it not.

He whose bosom glows with Thee,
He, and he alone, is free.

O blessedness, all bliss above,
When thy pure fires prevail !
Love only teaches what is Love;
All other lessons fail :

We learn its name, but not its powers,
Experience only makes it ours.

THE TESTIMONY OF DIVINE ADOPTION.

How happy are the new-born race; Partakers of adopting grace,

How pure the bliss they share! Hid from the world and all its eyes, Within their heart the blessing lies, And conscience feels it there.

The moment we believe, 'tis ours; And if we love with all our powers The God from whom it came, And if we serve with hearts sincere, 'Tis still discernible and clear,

An undisputed claim.

But, ah! if foul and wilful sin Stain and dishonour us within,

Farewell the joy we knew ;

Again the slaves of Nature's sway,
In lab'rinths of our own we stray,
Without a guide or clue.

The chaste and pure, who fear to grieve

The gracious Spirit they receive,

His work distinctly trace;
And, strong in undissembling love,
Boldly assert and clearly prove

Their hearts His dwelling-place.

O messenger of dear delight,
Whose voice dispels the deepest night,
Sweet peace-proclaiming Dove!
With Thee at hand to soothe our pains,
No wish unsatisfied remains,

No task but that of Love.

'Tis Love unites what sin divides ; The centre, where all bliss resides; To which the soul once brought, Reclining on the first great Cause, From His abounding sweetness draws Peace passing human thought.

Sorrow foregoes its nature there,
And life assumes a tranquil air,
Divested of its woes;

[breast, There sovereign goodness soothes the Till then incapable of rest,

In sacred sure repose.

GOD HIDES

HIS PEOPLE.

To lay the soul that loves him low

Becomes the Only Wise:

To hide, beneath a veil of woe,

The children of the skies.

Man, though a worm, would yet be great;

Though feeble, would seem strong;
Assumes an independent state,
By sacrilege and wrong.

Strange the reverse, which, once abased,
The haughty creature proves!
He feels his soul a barren waste,
Nor dares affirm he loves.

Scorn'd by the thoughtless and the vain,
To God he presses near;
Superior to the world's disdain,
And happy in its sneer.

Oh welcome, in his heart he says,
Humility and shame!
Farewell the wish for human praise,
The music of a name !

But will not scandal mar the good
That I might else perform?
And can God work it, if he would,
By so despised a worm?

Ah, vainly anxious !-leave the Lord
To rule thee, and dispose ;
Sweet is the mandate of His word,
And gracious all He does.

He draws from human littleness
His grandeur and renown;
And generous hearts with joy confess
The triumph all His own.

Down then with self-exalting thoughts!
Thy faith and hope employ,
To welcome all that He allots,
And suffer shame with joy.

No longer, then, thou wilt encroach
On His eternal right;
And He shall smile at thy approach,
And make thee His delight.

SELF-DIFFIDENCE.

SOURCE of love, and light of day,
Tear me from myself away;
Every view and thought of mine
Cast into the mould of Thine;
Teach, oh teach this faithless heart
A consistent, constant part;
Or, if it must live to grow
More rebellious, break it now!

Is it thus that I requite
Grace and goodness infinite?
Every trace of every boon
Cancelled and erased so soon!

Can I grieve Thee, whom I love;
Thee, in whom I live and move?
If my sorrow touch Thee still,
Save me from so great an ill!

Oh! the oppressive, irksome weight,
Felt in an uncertain state;
Comfort, peace, and rest, adieu,
Should I prove at last untrue!
Still I choose Thee, follow still
Every notice of Thy will;
But, unstable, strangely weak,
Still let slip the good I seek.

Self-confiding wretch, I thought
I could serve Thee as I ought,
Win Thee, and deserve to feel
All the Love Thou canst reveal!
Trusting self, a bruised reed,
Is to be deceived indeed.
Save me from this harm and loss,
Lest my gold turn all to dross!

Self is earthly-Faith alone
Makes an unseen world our own;
Faith relinquished, how we roam,
Feel our way, and leave our home!
Spurious gems our hopes entice,
While we scorn the pearl of price;
And, preferring servants' pay,
Cast the children's bread away.

PURE

THE ACQUIESCENCE OF PURE LOVE.

LOVE! if Thy destined sacrifice am I,

Come, slay thy victim, and prepare Thy fires;
Plunged in Thy depths of mercy, let me die
The death which every soul that lives desires!

I watch my hours, and see them fleet away;
The time is long that I have languished here;
Yet all my thoughts Thy purposes obey,
With no reluctance, cheerful and sincere.

To me 'tis equal, whether Love ordain
My life or death, appoint me pain or ease:
My soul perceives no real ill in pain;

In ease or health no real good she sees.

One Good she covets, and that Good alone;
To choose Thy will, from selfish bias free;
And to prefer a cottage to a throne,

And grief to comfort, if it pleases Thee.

That we should bear the cross is Thy command,
Die to the world, and live to self no more;

Suffer, unmoved, beneath the rudest hand,

As pleased when shipwrecked as when safe on shore.

[merged small][graphic][subsumed][subsumed]

GLORY TO GOD ALONE.

OH, loved! but not enough-though dearer far
Than self and its most loved enjoyments are;
None duly loves Thee, but who, nobly free
From sensual objects, finds his all in Thee.

Glory of God! thou stranger here below,
Whom man nor knows, nor feels a wish to know;
Our faith and reason are both shocked to find
Man in the post of honour-Thee behind.

Reason exclaims-" Let every creature fall,
"Ashamed, abased, before the Lord of all! "
And faith, o'erwhelmed with such a dazzling blaze,
Feebly describes the beauty she surveys.

Yet man, dim-sighted man, and rash as blind,
Deaf to the dictates of his better mind,
In frantic competition dares the skies,
And claims precedence of the Only Wise.

Oh, lost in vanity, till once self-known!
Nothing is great, or good, but God alone;
When thou shalt stand before His awful face,
Then, at the last, thy pride shall know his place.

Glorious, Almighty, First, and without end!
When wilt Thou melt the mountains and descend?
When wilt Thou shoot abroad Thy conquering rays,
And teach these atoms Thou hast made Thy praise?

Thy Glory is the sweetest heaven I feel;
And, if I seek it with too fierce a zeal,
Thy Love, triumphant o'er a selfish will,
Taught me the passion, and inspires it still.

My reason, all my faculties, unite,

To make Thy Glory their supreme delight;
Forbid it, Fountain of my brightest days,
That I should rob Thee, and usurp Thy praise!

My soul! rest happy in thy low estate,
Nor hope, nor wish, to be esteemed or great ;
To take the impression of a will divine,

Be that thy glory, and those riches thine.

Confess Him righteous in His just decrees,

Love what He loves, and let His pleasure please;
Die daily; from the touch of sin recede;

Then thou hast crowned Him, and He reigns indeed.

SELF-LOVE AND TRUTH INCOMPATIBLE.

[blocks in formation]

"Fix all your love on God alone, "Chuse but His will, and hate your own, "No fear shall in your path be found, "The dreary waste shall bloom around, "And you, through all your happy days, "Shall bless His name, and sing His praise."

O lovely solitude, how sweet The silence of this calm retreat! Here Truth, the fair whom I pursue, Gives all her beauty to my view; The simple unadorned display Charms every pain and fear away. O Truth, whom millions proudly slight; O Truth, my treasure and delight! Accept this tribute to thy name, And this poor heart from which it came !

[blocks in formation]
« AnteriorContinuar »