Page images
PDF
EPUB

But when yielding up to my fate,

I saw with the look of despair,
The dread world of waters abate,
And the spray of the olive was there!

Sweet pledge of the Waters' decrease,
How gladly I gathered thy buds,
And bore them, the emblems of peace,
As I glanced o'er the quick ebbing floods.
My pinions their freedom regain!

I enter the safe-gliding nest ;-
There find I relief for each pain

On the bosom of Mercy caressed.

As a star rising out of the wave,
That Refuge as lovely appeared,
The weary and trembling to save

Through the tumult it only careered :
My plainings are murmurs of joy!
Rays of heaven illumine my head!
My quiet no storm can destroy,-
The Dove to his window has fled.

And now other regions I hail,

New earth and new heavens there glow: That verdure, that azure, ne'er fail, Nor are marr'd by the tempests below. To bask in the sunlight's broad ray! To shine in the rainbow's pure vest!

Oh that I could now flee away,

And there be for ever at rest!

THE WORSHIP OF HEAVEN.

"And I saw no temple therein."

WHAT turrets blend with yonder sky?
What strains symphonious float afar?
Now sweeps the Heavenly Vision nigh,
Leaving, eclipsing, every star.

Jerusalem its hallowed name

To this unfolding City lends:

Its images of mighty fame

Swell forth, as slowly it descends.

That name transports to olden time,
Deep, solemn, feeling it recalls :
But fades at once the type sublime
Before these jasper-flaming walls!

And yet no Temple rears its pile

Among those structures grand and fair:

The palaces of Salem smile,

Her Shrine is strangely wanting there.

Fitly forgotten is that Frame,

And fitly, too, its site unknown: The Lord Almighty and the Lamb Build here Their Sanctuary-Throne.

Their Light, the Holiest contains!
Their Glories, the Shechinah blaze!

A God in Christ, when worshipped, deigns
To form the Temple for that praise !

00

In His own uncreated mind,

In His own infinite regard,

Alone shall His redeemed find

Their praise, indwelling, and reward!

"OF SUCH IS THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN."

O WHERE is the Land of the Blest?

Yon clouds, and those stars, far above:

No footstep toward it ever pressed,

Nor wing of the quick-flying dove!
Still gaze but on sanctified youth,—

When grace has expelled "the old leaven,”—
'Tis meekness, simplicity, truth :

'T is here is the Kingdom of Heaven!

O what is the Land of the Blest?
How dazzling, how wealthy, how pure!
Of pleasures eternal possessed,

And splendours which endless endure !
Rather think of the little one's smile,

When in infancy's slumber at even,
There flees all its passion and guile,-
Like that is the Kingdom of Heaven!

O who in that Land of the Blest

Shall share so distinguished a place?
And shall lie on the Saviour's breast ?-
The millions, new-born, of our race.

The Child of the Manger has bled!
The bond of their sin is thus riven!
The dew of our youth is but shed

To spangle the Kingdom of Heaven!

LINES SUGGESTED BY THE THOUGHT

OF THE

ALMOST INCREDULOUS SURPRISE THE CHRISTIAN WILL FEEL ON FINDING HIMSELF IN HEAVEN.

YES, 't is Heaven! Doubt no more!
These palace-mansions speak it true!
Weary footsteps find this shore,

And here immortal strength renew.
Pilgrim rest! Thy wanderings close
In these climes of sweet repose.

Yes, 't is Heaven! Hark the songs
Of hard-fought victories fill the sky!
Countless hands from conquering throngs
The palm-branch wave and toss on high.
Warrior rest! Thy weapons sheath,—
Twine around thee glory's wreath.

[blocks in formation]

Marks the oppressor's gloomy reign!

See the foe, that held us, fall!

List to the breaking of his chain !
Bondman rest! Henceforth thou 'rt free,
This thy dawn of jubilee.

[blocks in formation]

Yes, 't is Heaven! Pilgrim, blest,
And Warrior, Exile, Bondman, hail!
Orphan, Mourner, Voyager, rest !—

This long-sought refuge ne'er can fail.
Christian rest! For oh, in Thee
These diversities agree!

« PreviousContinue »