311.C. M.*Watts.The Soldier of the Cross.1Am I a soldier of the cross,And pledged to bear its shame?And shall I fear to own Christ’s cause,Or blush to speak his name?2Must I be carried to the skiesOn flowery beds of ease,While others fought to win the prize,And sailed through bloody seas?3Are there no foes for me to face?Must I not stem the flood?Shall sloth and faintness win Thy peace,O Thou, the martyr’s God?4The fearless heart Thou wilt sustain;Increase my courage, Lord!I’ll bear the toil, endure the pain,Supported by Thy word.5The saints in all this glorious warShall conquer, though they die;They see the triumph from afar,And seize it with their eye.6When Thy illustrious day shall rise,And all Thy armies shineIn robes of victory through the skies,The glory shall be Thine.312.L. M.Gaskell.Press On!1Press on, press on! ye sons of light,Untiring in your holy fight,Still treading each temptation down,And battling for a brighter crown.2Press on, press on! through toil and woe,With calm resolve, to triumph go,And make each dark and threatening illYield but a higher glory still.3Press on, press on! still look in faithTo him who vanquished sin and death;Then shall ye hear God’s word, “Well done!”True to the last, press on, press on!313.8 & 7s. M.*The Conflict of Life.1Onward, Christian, though the regionWhere thou art be drear and lone;God hath set a guardian legionVery near thee,—press thou on!2Listen, Christian, their HosannaRolleth o’er thee,—“God is Love.”Write upon thy red-cross banner,“Upward ever,—heaven’s above.”3By the thorn-road, and none other,Is the mount of vision won;Tread it without shrinking, brother!Jesus trod it,—press thou on!4By thy trustful, calm endeavor,Guiding, cheering, like the sun,Earth-bound hearts thou shall deliver;O, for their sake, press thou on!5Be this world the wiser, stronger,For thy life of pain and peace;While it needs thee, O, no longerPray thou for thy quick release;6Pray thou, Christian, daily, rather,That thou be a faithful son;By the prayer of Jesus,—“Father,Not my will, but Thine, be done!”314.7s. M.Gaskell.Sleep Not As Do Others.1Sleep not, soldier of the cross!Foes are lurking all around;Look not here to find repose,This is but thy battle-ground.2Up! and take thy shield and sword;Up! it is the call of Heaven;Shrink not faithless from thy Lord,Nobly strive as he hath striven.3Break through all the force of ill;Tread the might of passion down;Struggle onward, upward still,To the conquering Saviour’s crown!315.C. M.Doddridge.Forgetting the Things Behind.1Awake, my soul! stretch every nerve,And press with vigor on;A heavenly race demands thy zeal,And an immortal crown.2A cloud of witnesses aroundHold thee in full survey;Forget the steps already trod,And onward urge thy way.3’Tis God’s all-animating voiceThat calls thee from on high;’Tis His own hand presents the prizeTo thine aspiring eye;—4That prize with peerless glories bright,Which shall new lustre boast,When victors’ wreaths and monarchs’ gemsShall blend in common dust.316.C. M.Anonymous.The Whole Armor of the Lord.1O, speed thee, Christian, on thy way!And to thine armor cling;With girded loins the call obeyThat love and mercy bring!2There is a battle to be fought,An upward race to run,A crown of glory to be sought,A victory to be won.3O, faint not, Christian! for thy sighsAre heard before God’s throne;The race must come before the prize,The cross before the crown.317.P. M.Staughton.Onward and Upward.1Breast the wave, Christian! when it is strongest;Watch for day, Christian! when the night’s longest;Onward and onward still be thine endeavor;The rest that remaineth will be forever.2Fight the fight, Christian! Jesus is o’er thee;Run the race, Christian! heaven is before thee;He who hath promised faltereth never;The love of eternity flows on forever.3Lift the eye, Christian! just as it closeth;Raise the heart, Christian! ere it reposeth;Thee from the love of Christ nothing shall sever;Mount when the work is done,—praise God forever!318.L. M.Mrs. Barbauld.The Christian Warfare.1Awake, my soul! lift up thine eyes;See where thy foes against thee rise,In long array, a numerous host;Awake, my soul! or thou art lost.2Here giant danger threatening stands,Mustering his pale, terrific bands;There, pleasure’s silken banners spread,And willing souls are captives led.3See where rebellious passions rage,And fierce desires and lusts engage;The meanest foe of all the trainHas thousands and ten thousands slain.4Come, then, my soul! now learn to wieldThe weight of thine immortal shield;Put on the armor from aboveOf heavenly truth and heavenly love.5The terror and the charm repel,And powers of earth, and powers of hell;The Man of Calvary triumphed here;Why should his faithful followers fear?319.7s. M.Bulfinch.Struggle.1There’s a strife we all must wage,From life’s entrance to its close;Blest the bold who dare engage!Woe for him who seeks repose!2Honored they who firmly stand,While the conflict presses round;God’s own banner in their hand,In his service faithful found.3What our foes? Each thought impurePassions fierce, that tear the soul;Every ill that we can cure;Every crime we can control;4Every suffering which our handCan with soothing care assuage;Every evil of our land;Every error of our age.5On, then, to the glorious field!He who dies his life shall save;God himself shall be our shield,He shall bless and crown the brave.320.8 & 7s. M.Miss Bremer.Suffering and Action.1Cheek grow pale, but heart be vigorous!Body fall, but soul have peace!Welcome, pain! thou searcher rigorous!Slay me, but my faith increase.2Sin, o’er sense so softly stealing;Doubt, that would my strength impair;Hence at once from life and feeling!—Now my cross I gladly bear.3Up, my soul! with clear sedatenessRead heaven’s law, writ bright and broad,Up! a sacrifice to greatness,Truth, and goodness,—up to God!4Up to labor! from thee shakingOff the bonds of sloth, be brave!Give thyself to prayer and waking;Toil some fainting heart to save!321.L. M.Roscoe.The Pilgrim.1Go, suffering pilgrim of the earth,Go, conscious of thy heavenly birth,And, ’midst the storms that round thee rise,Retrace thy journey to the skies.2What though the wild winds rage around?Thou wilt not tremble at the sound;What though the waters o’er thee roll?They touch not thine immortal soul.3See where, arrayed on either hand,The direful train of passions stand;See hatred, envy, bar thy way,And foes more subtle still than they.4But, robed in innocence and truth,From all temptation guard thy youth;And from thy vestment’s sacred boundShake the dread fiends that cling around.5Go with pure heart and steadfast eyes,Strive on till that bright morn shall riseThat gives thee to thy blest abode,To rest forever with thy God.322.L. M.Norton.Fellowship of His Sufferings.1Faint not, poor traveller, though the wayBe rough, like that thy Saviour trod;Though cold and stormy lower the day,This path of suffering leads to God.2Nay, sink not, though from every limbAre starting drops of toil and pain;Thou dost but share the lot of HimWith whom his followers are to reign.3Christian! thy friend, thy master, prayed,While dread and anguish shook his frame,Then met his sufferings undismayed;Wilt thou not strive to do the same?4O, thinkest thou his Father’s loveShone round him then with fainter raysThan now, when, throned all height above,Unceasing voices hymn his praise?5Go, sufferer, calmly meet the woesWhich God’s own mercy bids thee bear;Then, rising as thy Saviour rose,Go, his eternal victory share.323.L. M.Newton.Trust in God.1Be still, my heart! these anxious caresTo thee are burdens, thorns, and snares,They cast dishonor on thy Lord,And contradict His gracious word.2Brought safely by His hand thus far,Why wilt thou now give place to fear?How canst thou want if He provide,Or lose thy way with such a guide?3Did ever trouble yet befall,And He refuse to hear thy call?And has He not His promise past,That thou shalt overcome at last?4He who has helped me hithertoWill help me all my journey through,And give me daily cause to raiseNew trophies to His endless praise.324.7s. M.Gaskell.Refuge in God.1We would leave, O God, to Thee,Every anxious care and fear;Thou the troubled thought canst see,Thou canst dry the bitter tear.2Thou dost care for us, we know,—Care with all a Father’s love;Thou canst make each earthly woeWork to higher bliss above.3On this faith we fain would rest;Strengthen Thou its blessed power!Steadfast keep it in our breast,Through each dark and trying hour.325.L. M.Morpeth.The Use of Tears.1How little of ourselves we know,Before a grief the heart has felt!The lessons that we learn of woeMake strong the soul, as well as melt.2The energies too stern for mirth,The reach of thought, the strength of will,’Mid cloud and tempest have their birth,Though blight and blast their course fulfil.3And yet ’tis when it mourns and fears,The laden spirit feels forgiven;And through the mist of falling tearsWe catch the clearest glimpse of heaven.326.L. M.Bryant.Blessed Are They That Mourn.1Deem not that they are blest aloneWhose days a peaceful tenor keep;The God who loves our race has shownA blessing for the eyes that weep.2The light of smiles shall fill againThe lids that now o’erflow with tears,And weary hours of woe and painAre earnests of serener years.3O, there are days of hope and restFor every dark and troubled night!And grief may bide, an evening guest,But joy shall come with morning light.4And ye, who o’er a friend’s low bierNow shed the bitter drops like rain,Know that a brighter, happier sphereWill give him to your arms again.327.L. M.Norton.My God, I Thank Thee!1My God, I thank Thee! may no thoughtE’er deem Thy chastisements severe;But may this heart, by sorrow taught,Calm each wild wish, each idle fear.2Thy mercy bids all nature bloom;The sun shines bright, and man is gay;Thine equal mercy spreads the gloomThat darkens o’er his little day.3Full many a throb of grief and painThy frail and erring child must know;But not one prayer is breathed in vain,Nor does one tear unheeded flow.4Thy various messengers employ;Thy purposes of love fulfil;And, ’mid the wreck of human joy,Let kneeling faith adore Thy will.328.L. M.Doddridge.Weeping Seedtime; Joyful Harvest.1The darkened sky, how thick it lowers!Troubled with storms, and big with showers,No cheerful gleam of light appears,But nature pours forth all her tears.2Yet let the sons of God revive;He bids the soul that seeks Him live,And from the gloomiest shade of nightCalls forth a morning of delight.3The seeds of ecstasy unknownAre in these watered furrows sown;See the green blades, how thick they rise,And with fresh verdure bless our eyes!4In secret foldings they containUnnumbered ears of golden grain;And heaven shall pour its beams around,Till the ripe harvest load the ground.5Then shall the trembling mourner come,And bind his sheaves, and bear them home,The voice long broke with sighs shall sing,Till heaven with hallelujahs ring.329.L. M.N. Y. Coll.Affliction, God’s Angel.1Affliction’s faded form draws nigh,With wrinkled brow and downcast eye;With sackcloth on her bosom spread,And ashes scattered o’er her head.2But deem her not a child of earth;From heaven she draws her sacred birth;Beside the throne of God she standsTo execute his kind commands.3The messenger of love, she fliesTo train us for our sphere, the skies;And onward as we move, the wayBecomes more smooth, more bright the day.4Her weeds to robes of glory turn,Her looks with kindling radiance burn;And from her lips these accents steal,—“God smites to bless, he wounds to heal!”330.10s. M.*Mrs. Howitt.In Affliction.1Thou that art strong to comfort, look on me!I sit in darkness and behold no light;Over my soul the waves of agonyHave gone, and left me in a rayless night.2A bruised and broken reed sustain! sustain!Divinest Comforter, to Thee I fly,To whom no soul hath ever fled in vain;Support me with thy love, or else I die.3Father, what’er I had, it all was thine;A God of mercy Thou hast ever been;O, help me what I most loved to resign,And if I murmur, count it not for sin.4My soul is strengthened now, and it shall bearAll that remains, whatever it may be;And from the very depths of my despairI will look up, O God, and trust in Thee!331.C. M.*Barton.At Evening There Shall Be Light.1Our pathway oft is wet with tears,Our sky with clouds o’ercast,And worldly cares and worldly fearsGo with us to the last;—Not to the last! God’s word hath said,Could we but read aright:O pilgrim! lift in hope thy head,At eve it shall be light!2Though earth-born shadows now may shroudOur toilsome path a while,God’s blessed word can part each cloud,And bid the sunshine smile.If we but trust in living faith,His love and power divine,Then, though our sun may set in death,His light shall round us shine.3When tempest-clouds are dark on high,His bow of love and peaceShines beauteous in the vaulted sky,Token that storms shall cease.Then keep we on, with hope unchilled,By faith and not by sight,And we shall own his word fulfilled,—“At eve it shall be light.”332.C. M.Anonymous.God’s Way is on the Deep.1Thy way is on the deep, O Lord!E’en there we’ll go with Thee;We’ll meet the tempest at Thy word,And walk upon the sea.2Poor tremblers at His rougher wind,Why do we doubt Him so?Who gives the storms a path will findThe way our feet shall go.3A moment may His hand seem lost,Drear moment of delay;—We cry, “Lord, help the tempest-tost!”And safe we’re borne away.4O happy soul, of faith divine!Thy victory how sure!The love that kindles joy is thine,The patience to endure.333.H. M.Mrs. Miles.In Affliction.1Thou, infinite in love!Guide this bewildered mind,Which, like the trembling dove,No resting-place can findOn the wild waters,—God of light,Through the thick darkness lead me right!2Bid the fierce conflict cease,And fear and anguish fly;Let there again be peace,As in the days gone by:In Jesus’ name I cry to Thee,Remembering Gethsemane.3Fain would earth’s true and dearSave me in this dark hour;And art not Thou more near?Art Thou not love and power?Vain is the help of man,—but ThouCanst send deliverance even now.4Though through the future’s shadePale phantoms I descry,Let me not shrink dismayed,But ever feel Thee nigh;There may be grief, and pain, and careBut, O my Father! Thou art there.334.C. M.Anonymous.Resignation.1In trouble and in grief, O God,Thy smile hath cheered my way;And joy hath budded from each thornThat round my footsteps lay.2The hours of pain have yielded goodWhich prosperous days refused;As herbs, though scentless when entire,Spread fragrance when they’re bruised.3The oak strikes deeper as its boughsBy furious blasts are driven;So life’s tempestuous storms the moreHave fixed my heart in heaven.4All gracious Lord! whate’er my lotIn other times may be,I’ll welcome still the heaviest griefThat brings me near to Thee.335.7s. M.Sarah F. Adams.Dews and Tears.1Gently fall the dews of eve,Raising still the languid flowers;Sweetly flow the tears that grieveO’er a mourner’s stricken hours.2Blessed dews and tears that yetLift us nearer unto heaven!Let us still His praise repeat,Who in mercy all hath given.336.10s. M.Anonymous.The Strength of the Lonely.1Though lonely be thy path, fear not, for HeWho marks the sparrow fall is guarding thee;And not a star shines o’er thy head by night,But He hath known that it will reach thy sight.2And not a grief can darken or surprise,Swell in thy heart, or dim with tears thine eyes,But it is sent in mercy and in love,To bid thy helplessness seek strength above.337.L. M.Jane Roscoe.Light in Darkness.1My Father, when around me spreadI see the shadows of the tomb,When life’s bright visions droop and fade,And darkness veils the days to come,—2O, in that anguished hour I turnWith a still trusting heart to Thee,And holy thoughts arise and burnAmid that cold, sad destiny!3They fill my soul with heavenly light,While all around is pain and woe;And strengthened by them, in Thy sight,Father, to drink Thy cup I go.338.C. M.Anonymous.Consolation.1Let me not wander comfortless,My Father, far from Thee;But still beneath Thy guardian wingIn holy quiet be.2The storms of grief, the tears of woe,Soothed by Thy love, shall cease;And all the trembling spirit breatheA deep, unbroken peace.3The power of prayer shall o’er me shedA deep, celestial calm;More soft than evening’s twilight dews,My soul shall feel its balm.4For there Thy still, small voice shall speakThy great, Thy boundless love;And tears and smiles, and grief and joy,Shall lift my soul above.339.S. M.Anonymous.The Meaning of Sorrow.1We love this outward world,Its fair sky overhead,—Its morning’s soft, gray mist unfurled,Its sunsets rich and red.2But there’s a world withinThat higher glory hath;A life the immortal soul must win,—The life of joy and faith.3For this the Father’s loveDoth shade the world of sense,The bounding play of health remove,And dim the sparkling glance;4That, though the earth grows dullAnd earthly pleasures few,The spirit gain its wisdom fullTo suffer and to do.5Holy its world within,Unknown to sound or sight,—The world of victory o’er sin,Of faith, and love, and light.340.11 & 10s. M.Anonymous.The Mourner.1Weep thou, O mourner! but in lamentationLet thy Redeemer still remembered be;Strong is His arm, the God of thy salvation,Strong is His love to cheer and comfort thee.2Cold though the world be, in the way before theeWail not in sadness o’er the darkling tomb;God in His love still watcheth kindly o’er thee,Light shineth still above the clouds of gloom.3Dimmed though thine eyes be with the tears of sorrowNight only known beneath the sky of time,Faith can behold the dawning of a morrowGlowing in smiles of life and joy sublime.4Change, then, O mourner, grief to exultation;Firm and confiding should thy spirit be;Strong is His arm, the God of thy salvation,Strong is His love to cheer and comfort thee.341.P. M.Mrs. Hemans.For Strength.1Father! who in the olive shade,When the dark hour came on,Didst, with a breath of heavenly aid,Strengthen thy Son;2O, in the anguish of our night,Send us down blest relief;And to the chastened, let Thy mightHallow the grief!3And thou, that, when the starry skySaw the dread strife begun,Didst teach adoring faith to cry,“Thy will be done!”—4By thy meek spirit, thou, of allThat e’er have mourned the chief,Our Saviour! when the stroke doth fall,Hallow our grief!342.11 & 4s. M.Whittier.The Angels of Grief.1With silence only as their benediction,God’s angels comeWhere, in the shadow of a great affliction,The soul sits dumb.2Yet would we say, what every heart approveth,—Our Father’s will,Calling to Him the dear ones whom he loveth,Is mercy still.3Not upon us or ours the solemn angelHath evil wrought;The funeral anthem is a glad evangel;The good die not!4God calls our loved ones, but we lose not whollyWhat He has given;They live on earth in thought and deed, as trulyAs in His heaven.343.C. M.Wilson.Angels.1O, not when the death-prayer is said,The life of life departs;The body in the grave is laid,Its beauty in our hearts.2At holy midnight, voices sweet,Like fragrance, fill the room;And happy ghosts, with noiseless feet,Come brightening through the gloom.3We know who sends the visions bright,From whose dear side they came;We veil our eyes before Thy light,We bless our Father’s name!4This frame, O God, this feeble breath,Thy hand may soon destroy;We think of Thee, and feel in deathA deep and holy joy.5Dim is the light of vanished yearsIn glory yet to come;O idle grief, O foolish tears,When Jesus calls us home!344.P. M.Mrs. Hemans.The Cry of the Afflicted.1Lowly and solemn beThy children’s cry to Thee,Father divine!A hymn of suppliant breath,Owning that life and deathAlike are Thine.2O Father, in that hourWhen earth all helping powerShall disavow;When spear, and shield, and crown,In faintness are cast down,Sustain us Thou!3By him who bowed to takeThe death-cup for our sake,The thorn, the rod;From whom the last dismayWas not to pass away,Aid us, O God!4And now beside the grave,We call on Thee to save,Father divine!Hear, hear our suppliant breath;Keep us, in life and death,Thine, only Thine!345.12 & 11s. M.Gaskell.Life in Death.1Thanks, thanks unto God! who in mercy hath spokenThe truths which have pierced through the spirit’s sad gloom;Whose love with the light of its presence hath brokenThe darkness which hung o’er the desolate tomb.2What now shall affright us? A Father almightyKeeps watch round our footsteps wherever we go;His mercy is sleepless,—His wisdom unfailing,—He knoweth each want and regardeth each woe.3Where now is death’s terror? he comes as an angelTo carry the spirit away to its rest;The gloom which he weareth is lost in the messageHe brings from the Being who loveth us best.4May we live ever true to the hopes He hath given,While they shed o’er our path a still holier light;Ever making us nearer and nearer to heaven,More pure our affections, our spirits more bright.346.L. M.Norton.O, Stay Thy Tears!1O, stay thy tears! for they are blestWhose days are past, whose toil is done;Here midnight care disturbs our rest,Here sorrow dims the morning sun.2For laboring virtue’s anxious toil,For patient sorrow’s stifled sigh,For faith that marks the conqueror’s spoil,Heaven grants the recompense,—to die.3How blest are they whose transient yearsPass like an evening meteor’s flight,Not dark with guilt, nor dim with tears,Whose course is short, unclouded, bright!4O, cheerless were our lengthened way,But heaven’s own light dispels the gloom,Streams downward from eternal day,And sheds a glory round the tomb!5Then stay thy tears,—the blest aboveHave hailed a spirit’s heavenly birth,Sung a new song of joy and love;Then why should anguish reign on earth?347.L. M.Sarah F. Adams.The Angel at the Tomb.1The mourners came, at break of day,Unto the garden sepulchre,With saddened hearts to weep and prayFor him, the loved one, buried there.What radiant light dispels the gloom?An angel sits beside the tomb.2The earth doth mourn her treasures lost,All sepulchred beneath the snow,When wintry winds and chilling frostHave laid her summer glories low;The spring returns, the flow’rets bloom,—An angel sits beside the tomb.3Then mourn we not beloved dead,E’en while we come to weep and pray;The happy spirit hath but fledTo brighter realms of heavenly day;Immortal hope dispels the gloom;—An angel sits beside the tomb.348.7 & 5s. M.Bowring.Blessed Are the Dead.1Blessed, blessed are the deadIn the Lord who die;Radiant is the path they treadUpward to the sky.2All their deeds of virtue done,Deeds of peace and love,Now are stars of glory strewn,Lighting them above.349.S. M.Bowring.O Death, Where Is Thy Sting?1Where is thy sting, O death?Grave! where thy victory?The clod may sleep in dust beneath,The spirit will be free!2Both man and time have powerO’er suffering, dying men;But death arrives, and in that hourThe soul is freed again.3Then, death, where is thy sting?And where thy victory, grave?O’er your dark bourn the soul will springTo Him who loves to save.350.L. M.Mrs. Barbauld.His End is Peace.1How blest the righteous when he dies!When sinks a trusting soul to rest,How mildly beam the closing eyes,How gently heaves the expiring breast!2So fades a summer cloud away;So sinks the gale when storms are o’er;So gently shuts the eye of day;So dies a wave along the shore.3A holy quiet reigns around,A calm which life nor death destroys;And naught disturbs that peace profoundWhich his unfettered soul enjoys.4Farewell, conflicting hopes and fears,Where lights and shades alternate dwell!How bright the unchanging morn appears!Farewell, inconstant world, farewell!5Life’s duty done, as sinks the clay,Light from its load the spirit flies;While guardian angels gently say,“How blest the righteous when he dies!”
311.C. M.*Watts.The Soldier of the Cross.1Am I a soldier of the cross,And pledged to bear its shame?And shall I fear to own Christ’s cause,Or blush to speak his name?2Must I be carried to the skiesOn flowery beds of ease,While others fought to win the prize,And sailed through bloody seas?3Are there no foes for me to face?Must I not stem the flood?Shall sloth and faintness win Thy peace,O Thou, the martyr’s God?4The fearless heart Thou wilt sustain;Increase my courage, Lord!I’ll bear the toil, endure the pain,Supported by Thy word.5The saints in all this glorious warShall conquer, though they die;They see the triumph from afar,And seize it with their eye.6When Thy illustrious day shall rise,And all Thy armies shineIn robes of victory through the skies,The glory shall be Thine.
C. M.
*Watts.
1Am I a soldier of the cross,And pledged to bear its shame?And shall I fear to own Christ’s cause,Or blush to speak his name?
1Am I a soldier of the cross,
And pledged to bear its shame?
And shall I fear to own Christ’s cause,
Or blush to speak his name?
2Must I be carried to the skiesOn flowery beds of ease,While others fought to win the prize,And sailed through bloody seas?
2Must I be carried to the skies
On flowery beds of ease,
While others fought to win the prize,
And sailed through bloody seas?
3Are there no foes for me to face?Must I not stem the flood?Shall sloth and faintness win Thy peace,O Thou, the martyr’s God?
3Are there no foes for me to face?
Must I not stem the flood?
Shall sloth and faintness win Thy peace,
O Thou, the martyr’s God?
4The fearless heart Thou wilt sustain;Increase my courage, Lord!I’ll bear the toil, endure the pain,Supported by Thy word.
4The fearless heart Thou wilt sustain;
Increase my courage, Lord!
I’ll bear the toil, endure the pain,
Supported by Thy word.
5The saints in all this glorious warShall conquer, though they die;They see the triumph from afar,And seize it with their eye.
5The saints in all this glorious war
Shall conquer, though they die;
They see the triumph from afar,
And seize it with their eye.
6When Thy illustrious day shall rise,And all Thy armies shineIn robes of victory through the skies,The glory shall be Thine.
6When Thy illustrious day shall rise,
And all Thy armies shine
In robes of victory through the skies,
The glory shall be Thine.
312.L. M.Gaskell.Press On!1Press on, press on! ye sons of light,Untiring in your holy fight,Still treading each temptation down,And battling for a brighter crown.2Press on, press on! through toil and woe,With calm resolve, to triumph go,And make each dark and threatening illYield but a higher glory still.3Press on, press on! still look in faithTo him who vanquished sin and death;Then shall ye hear God’s word, “Well done!”True to the last, press on, press on!
L. M.
Gaskell.
1Press on, press on! ye sons of light,Untiring in your holy fight,Still treading each temptation down,And battling for a brighter crown.
1Press on, press on! ye sons of light,
Untiring in your holy fight,
Still treading each temptation down,
And battling for a brighter crown.
2Press on, press on! through toil and woe,With calm resolve, to triumph go,And make each dark and threatening illYield but a higher glory still.
2Press on, press on! through toil and woe,
With calm resolve, to triumph go,
And make each dark and threatening ill
Yield but a higher glory still.
3Press on, press on! still look in faithTo him who vanquished sin and death;Then shall ye hear God’s word, “Well done!”True to the last, press on, press on!
3Press on, press on! still look in faith
To him who vanquished sin and death;
Then shall ye hear God’s word, “Well done!”
True to the last, press on, press on!
313.8 & 7s. M.*The Conflict of Life.1Onward, Christian, though the regionWhere thou art be drear and lone;God hath set a guardian legionVery near thee,—press thou on!2Listen, Christian, their HosannaRolleth o’er thee,—“God is Love.”Write upon thy red-cross banner,“Upward ever,—heaven’s above.”3By the thorn-road, and none other,Is the mount of vision won;Tread it without shrinking, brother!Jesus trod it,—press thou on!4By thy trustful, calm endeavor,Guiding, cheering, like the sun,Earth-bound hearts thou shall deliver;O, for their sake, press thou on!5Be this world the wiser, stronger,For thy life of pain and peace;While it needs thee, O, no longerPray thou for thy quick release;6Pray thou, Christian, daily, rather,That thou be a faithful son;By the prayer of Jesus,—“Father,Not my will, but Thine, be done!”
8 & 7s. M.
*
1Onward, Christian, though the regionWhere thou art be drear and lone;God hath set a guardian legionVery near thee,—press thou on!
1Onward, Christian, though the region
Where thou art be drear and lone;
God hath set a guardian legion
Very near thee,—press thou on!
2Listen, Christian, their HosannaRolleth o’er thee,—“God is Love.”Write upon thy red-cross banner,“Upward ever,—heaven’s above.”
2Listen, Christian, their Hosanna
Rolleth o’er thee,—“God is Love.”
Write upon thy red-cross banner,
“Upward ever,—heaven’s above.”
3By the thorn-road, and none other,Is the mount of vision won;Tread it without shrinking, brother!Jesus trod it,—press thou on!
3By the thorn-road, and none other,
Is the mount of vision won;
Tread it without shrinking, brother!
Jesus trod it,—press thou on!
4By thy trustful, calm endeavor,Guiding, cheering, like the sun,Earth-bound hearts thou shall deliver;O, for their sake, press thou on!
4By thy trustful, calm endeavor,
Guiding, cheering, like the sun,
Earth-bound hearts thou shall deliver;
O, for their sake, press thou on!
5Be this world the wiser, stronger,For thy life of pain and peace;While it needs thee, O, no longerPray thou for thy quick release;
5Be this world the wiser, stronger,
For thy life of pain and peace;
While it needs thee, O, no longer
Pray thou for thy quick release;
6Pray thou, Christian, daily, rather,That thou be a faithful son;By the prayer of Jesus,—“Father,Not my will, but Thine, be done!”
6Pray thou, Christian, daily, rather,
That thou be a faithful son;
By the prayer of Jesus,—“Father,
Not my will, but Thine, be done!”
314.7s. M.Gaskell.Sleep Not As Do Others.1Sleep not, soldier of the cross!Foes are lurking all around;Look not here to find repose,This is but thy battle-ground.2Up! and take thy shield and sword;Up! it is the call of Heaven;Shrink not faithless from thy Lord,Nobly strive as he hath striven.3Break through all the force of ill;Tread the might of passion down;Struggle onward, upward still,To the conquering Saviour’s crown!
7s. M.
Gaskell.
1Sleep not, soldier of the cross!Foes are lurking all around;Look not here to find repose,This is but thy battle-ground.
1Sleep not, soldier of the cross!
Foes are lurking all around;
Look not here to find repose,
This is but thy battle-ground.
2Up! and take thy shield and sword;Up! it is the call of Heaven;Shrink not faithless from thy Lord,Nobly strive as he hath striven.
2Up! and take thy shield and sword;
Up! it is the call of Heaven;
Shrink not faithless from thy Lord,
Nobly strive as he hath striven.
3Break through all the force of ill;Tread the might of passion down;Struggle onward, upward still,To the conquering Saviour’s crown!
3Break through all the force of ill;
Tread the might of passion down;
Struggle onward, upward still,
To the conquering Saviour’s crown!
315.C. M.Doddridge.Forgetting the Things Behind.1Awake, my soul! stretch every nerve,And press with vigor on;A heavenly race demands thy zeal,And an immortal crown.2A cloud of witnesses aroundHold thee in full survey;Forget the steps already trod,And onward urge thy way.3’Tis God’s all-animating voiceThat calls thee from on high;’Tis His own hand presents the prizeTo thine aspiring eye;—4That prize with peerless glories bright,Which shall new lustre boast,When victors’ wreaths and monarchs’ gemsShall blend in common dust.
C. M.
Doddridge.
1Awake, my soul! stretch every nerve,And press with vigor on;A heavenly race demands thy zeal,And an immortal crown.
1Awake, my soul! stretch every nerve,
And press with vigor on;
A heavenly race demands thy zeal,
And an immortal crown.
2A cloud of witnesses aroundHold thee in full survey;Forget the steps already trod,And onward urge thy way.
2A cloud of witnesses around
Hold thee in full survey;
Forget the steps already trod,
And onward urge thy way.
3’Tis God’s all-animating voiceThat calls thee from on high;’Tis His own hand presents the prizeTo thine aspiring eye;—
3’Tis God’s all-animating voice
That calls thee from on high;
’Tis His own hand presents the prize
To thine aspiring eye;—
4That prize with peerless glories bright,Which shall new lustre boast,When victors’ wreaths and monarchs’ gemsShall blend in common dust.
4That prize with peerless glories bright,
Which shall new lustre boast,
When victors’ wreaths and monarchs’ gems
Shall blend in common dust.
316.C. M.Anonymous.The Whole Armor of the Lord.1O, speed thee, Christian, on thy way!And to thine armor cling;With girded loins the call obeyThat love and mercy bring!2There is a battle to be fought,An upward race to run,A crown of glory to be sought,A victory to be won.3O, faint not, Christian! for thy sighsAre heard before God’s throne;The race must come before the prize,The cross before the crown.
C. M.
Anonymous.
1O, speed thee, Christian, on thy way!And to thine armor cling;With girded loins the call obeyThat love and mercy bring!
1O, speed thee, Christian, on thy way!
And to thine armor cling;
With girded loins the call obey
That love and mercy bring!
2There is a battle to be fought,An upward race to run,A crown of glory to be sought,A victory to be won.
2There is a battle to be fought,
An upward race to run,
A crown of glory to be sought,
A victory to be won.
3O, faint not, Christian! for thy sighsAre heard before God’s throne;The race must come before the prize,The cross before the crown.
3O, faint not, Christian! for thy sighs
Are heard before God’s throne;
The race must come before the prize,
The cross before the crown.
317.P. M.Staughton.Onward and Upward.1Breast the wave, Christian! when it is strongest;Watch for day, Christian! when the night’s longest;Onward and onward still be thine endeavor;The rest that remaineth will be forever.2Fight the fight, Christian! Jesus is o’er thee;Run the race, Christian! heaven is before thee;He who hath promised faltereth never;The love of eternity flows on forever.3Lift the eye, Christian! just as it closeth;Raise the heart, Christian! ere it reposeth;Thee from the love of Christ nothing shall sever;Mount when the work is done,—praise God forever!
P. M.
Staughton.
1Breast the wave, Christian! when it is strongest;Watch for day, Christian! when the night’s longest;Onward and onward still be thine endeavor;The rest that remaineth will be forever.
1Breast the wave, Christian! when it is strongest;
Watch for day, Christian! when the night’s longest;
Onward and onward still be thine endeavor;
The rest that remaineth will be forever.
2Fight the fight, Christian! Jesus is o’er thee;Run the race, Christian! heaven is before thee;He who hath promised faltereth never;The love of eternity flows on forever.
2Fight the fight, Christian! Jesus is o’er thee;
Run the race, Christian! heaven is before thee;
He who hath promised faltereth never;
The love of eternity flows on forever.
3Lift the eye, Christian! just as it closeth;Raise the heart, Christian! ere it reposeth;Thee from the love of Christ nothing shall sever;Mount when the work is done,—praise God forever!
3Lift the eye, Christian! just as it closeth;
Raise the heart, Christian! ere it reposeth;
Thee from the love of Christ nothing shall sever;
Mount when the work is done,—praise God forever!
318.L. M.Mrs. Barbauld.The Christian Warfare.1Awake, my soul! lift up thine eyes;See where thy foes against thee rise,In long array, a numerous host;Awake, my soul! or thou art lost.2Here giant danger threatening stands,Mustering his pale, terrific bands;There, pleasure’s silken banners spread,And willing souls are captives led.3See where rebellious passions rage,And fierce desires and lusts engage;The meanest foe of all the trainHas thousands and ten thousands slain.4Come, then, my soul! now learn to wieldThe weight of thine immortal shield;Put on the armor from aboveOf heavenly truth and heavenly love.5The terror and the charm repel,And powers of earth, and powers of hell;The Man of Calvary triumphed here;Why should his faithful followers fear?
L. M.
Mrs. Barbauld.
1Awake, my soul! lift up thine eyes;See where thy foes against thee rise,In long array, a numerous host;Awake, my soul! or thou art lost.
1Awake, my soul! lift up thine eyes;
See where thy foes against thee rise,
In long array, a numerous host;
Awake, my soul! or thou art lost.
2Here giant danger threatening stands,Mustering his pale, terrific bands;There, pleasure’s silken banners spread,And willing souls are captives led.
2Here giant danger threatening stands,
Mustering his pale, terrific bands;
There, pleasure’s silken banners spread,
And willing souls are captives led.
3See where rebellious passions rage,And fierce desires and lusts engage;The meanest foe of all the trainHas thousands and ten thousands slain.
3See where rebellious passions rage,
And fierce desires and lusts engage;
The meanest foe of all the train
Has thousands and ten thousands slain.
4Come, then, my soul! now learn to wieldThe weight of thine immortal shield;Put on the armor from aboveOf heavenly truth and heavenly love.
4Come, then, my soul! now learn to wield
The weight of thine immortal shield;
Put on the armor from above
Of heavenly truth and heavenly love.
5The terror and the charm repel,And powers of earth, and powers of hell;The Man of Calvary triumphed here;Why should his faithful followers fear?
5The terror and the charm repel,
And powers of earth, and powers of hell;
The Man of Calvary triumphed here;
Why should his faithful followers fear?
319.7s. M.Bulfinch.Struggle.1There’s a strife we all must wage,From life’s entrance to its close;Blest the bold who dare engage!Woe for him who seeks repose!2Honored they who firmly stand,While the conflict presses round;God’s own banner in their hand,In his service faithful found.3What our foes? Each thought impurePassions fierce, that tear the soul;Every ill that we can cure;Every crime we can control;4Every suffering which our handCan with soothing care assuage;Every evil of our land;Every error of our age.5On, then, to the glorious field!He who dies his life shall save;God himself shall be our shield,He shall bless and crown the brave.
7s. M.
Bulfinch.
1There’s a strife we all must wage,From life’s entrance to its close;Blest the bold who dare engage!Woe for him who seeks repose!
1There’s a strife we all must wage,
From life’s entrance to its close;
Blest the bold who dare engage!
Woe for him who seeks repose!
2Honored they who firmly stand,While the conflict presses round;God’s own banner in their hand,In his service faithful found.
2Honored they who firmly stand,
While the conflict presses round;
God’s own banner in their hand,
In his service faithful found.
3What our foes? Each thought impurePassions fierce, that tear the soul;Every ill that we can cure;Every crime we can control;
3What our foes? Each thought impure
Passions fierce, that tear the soul;
Every ill that we can cure;
Every crime we can control;
4Every suffering which our handCan with soothing care assuage;Every evil of our land;Every error of our age.
4Every suffering which our hand
Can with soothing care assuage;
Every evil of our land;
Every error of our age.
5On, then, to the glorious field!He who dies his life shall save;God himself shall be our shield,He shall bless and crown the brave.
5On, then, to the glorious field!
He who dies his life shall save;
God himself shall be our shield,
He shall bless and crown the brave.
320.8 & 7s. M.Miss Bremer.Suffering and Action.1Cheek grow pale, but heart be vigorous!Body fall, but soul have peace!Welcome, pain! thou searcher rigorous!Slay me, but my faith increase.2Sin, o’er sense so softly stealing;Doubt, that would my strength impair;Hence at once from life and feeling!—Now my cross I gladly bear.3Up, my soul! with clear sedatenessRead heaven’s law, writ bright and broad,Up! a sacrifice to greatness,Truth, and goodness,—up to God!4Up to labor! from thee shakingOff the bonds of sloth, be brave!Give thyself to prayer and waking;Toil some fainting heart to save!
8 & 7s. M.
Miss Bremer.
1Cheek grow pale, but heart be vigorous!Body fall, but soul have peace!Welcome, pain! thou searcher rigorous!Slay me, but my faith increase.
1Cheek grow pale, but heart be vigorous!
Body fall, but soul have peace!
Welcome, pain! thou searcher rigorous!
Slay me, but my faith increase.
2Sin, o’er sense so softly stealing;Doubt, that would my strength impair;Hence at once from life and feeling!—Now my cross I gladly bear.
2Sin, o’er sense so softly stealing;
Doubt, that would my strength impair;
Hence at once from life and feeling!—
Now my cross I gladly bear.
3Up, my soul! with clear sedatenessRead heaven’s law, writ bright and broad,Up! a sacrifice to greatness,Truth, and goodness,—up to God!
3Up, my soul! with clear sedateness
Read heaven’s law, writ bright and broad,
Up! a sacrifice to greatness,
Truth, and goodness,—up to God!
4Up to labor! from thee shakingOff the bonds of sloth, be brave!Give thyself to prayer and waking;Toil some fainting heart to save!
4Up to labor! from thee shaking
Off the bonds of sloth, be brave!
Give thyself to prayer and waking;
Toil some fainting heart to save!
321.L. M.Roscoe.The Pilgrim.1Go, suffering pilgrim of the earth,Go, conscious of thy heavenly birth,And, ’midst the storms that round thee rise,Retrace thy journey to the skies.2What though the wild winds rage around?Thou wilt not tremble at the sound;What though the waters o’er thee roll?They touch not thine immortal soul.3See where, arrayed on either hand,The direful train of passions stand;See hatred, envy, bar thy way,And foes more subtle still than they.4But, robed in innocence and truth,From all temptation guard thy youth;And from thy vestment’s sacred boundShake the dread fiends that cling around.5Go with pure heart and steadfast eyes,Strive on till that bright morn shall riseThat gives thee to thy blest abode,To rest forever with thy God.
L. M.
Roscoe.
1Go, suffering pilgrim of the earth,Go, conscious of thy heavenly birth,And, ’midst the storms that round thee rise,Retrace thy journey to the skies.
1Go, suffering pilgrim of the earth,
Go, conscious of thy heavenly birth,
And, ’midst the storms that round thee rise,
Retrace thy journey to the skies.
2What though the wild winds rage around?Thou wilt not tremble at the sound;What though the waters o’er thee roll?They touch not thine immortal soul.
2What though the wild winds rage around?
Thou wilt not tremble at the sound;
What though the waters o’er thee roll?
They touch not thine immortal soul.
3See where, arrayed on either hand,The direful train of passions stand;See hatred, envy, bar thy way,And foes more subtle still than they.
3See where, arrayed on either hand,
The direful train of passions stand;
See hatred, envy, bar thy way,
And foes more subtle still than they.
4But, robed in innocence and truth,From all temptation guard thy youth;And from thy vestment’s sacred boundShake the dread fiends that cling around.
4But, robed in innocence and truth,
From all temptation guard thy youth;
And from thy vestment’s sacred bound
Shake the dread fiends that cling around.
5Go with pure heart and steadfast eyes,Strive on till that bright morn shall riseThat gives thee to thy blest abode,To rest forever with thy God.
5Go with pure heart and steadfast eyes,
Strive on till that bright morn shall rise
That gives thee to thy blest abode,
To rest forever with thy God.
322.L. M.Norton.Fellowship of His Sufferings.1Faint not, poor traveller, though the wayBe rough, like that thy Saviour trod;Though cold and stormy lower the day,This path of suffering leads to God.2Nay, sink not, though from every limbAre starting drops of toil and pain;Thou dost but share the lot of HimWith whom his followers are to reign.3Christian! thy friend, thy master, prayed,While dread and anguish shook his frame,Then met his sufferings undismayed;Wilt thou not strive to do the same?4O, thinkest thou his Father’s loveShone round him then with fainter raysThan now, when, throned all height above,Unceasing voices hymn his praise?5Go, sufferer, calmly meet the woesWhich God’s own mercy bids thee bear;Then, rising as thy Saviour rose,Go, his eternal victory share.
L. M.
Norton.
1Faint not, poor traveller, though the wayBe rough, like that thy Saviour trod;Though cold and stormy lower the day,This path of suffering leads to God.
1Faint not, poor traveller, though the way
Be rough, like that thy Saviour trod;
Though cold and stormy lower the day,
This path of suffering leads to God.
2Nay, sink not, though from every limbAre starting drops of toil and pain;Thou dost but share the lot of HimWith whom his followers are to reign.
2Nay, sink not, though from every limb
Are starting drops of toil and pain;
Thou dost but share the lot of Him
With whom his followers are to reign.
3Christian! thy friend, thy master, prayed,While dread and anguish shook his frame,Then met his sufferings undismayed;Wilt thou not strive to do the same?
3Christian! thy friend, thy master, prayed,
While dread and anguish shook his frame,
Then met his sufferings undismayed;
Wilt thou not strive to do the same?
4O, thinkest thou his Father’s loveShone round him then with fainter raysThan now, when, throned all height above,Unceasing voices hymn his praise?
4O, thinkest thou his Father’s love
Shone round him then with fainter rays
Than now, when, throned all height above,
Unceasing voices hymn his praise?
5Go, sufferer, calmly meet the woesWhich God’s own mercy bids thee bear;Then, rising as thy Saviour rose,Go, his eternal victory share.
5Go, sufferer, calmly meet the woes
Which God’s own mercy bids thee bear;
Then, rising as thy Saviour rose,
Go, his eternal victory share.
323.L. M.Newton.Trust in God.1Be still, my heart! these anxious caresTo thee are burdens, thorns, and snares,They cast dishonor on thy Lord,And contradict His gracious word.2Brought safely by His hand thus far,Why wilt thou now give place to fear?How canst thou want if He provide,Or lose thy way with such a guide?3Did ever trouble yet befall,And He refuse to hear thy call?And has He not His promise past,That thou shalt overcome at last?4He who has helped me hithertoWill help me all my journey through,And give me daily cause to raiseNew trophies to His endless praise.
L. M.
Newton.
1Be still, my heart! these anxious caresTo thee are burdens, thorns, and snares,They cast dishonor on thy Lord,And contradict His gracious word.
1Be still, my heart! these anxious cares
To thee are burdens, thorns, and snares,
They cast dishonor on thy Lord,
And contradict His gracious word.
2Brought safely by His hand thus far,Why wilt thou now give place to fear?How canst thou want if He provide,Or lose thy way with such a guide?
2Brought safely by His hand thus far,
Why wilt thou now give place to fear?
How canst thou want if He provide,
Or lose thy way with such a guide?
3Did ever trouble yet befall,And He refuse to hear thy call?And has He not His promise past,That thou shalt overcome at last?
3Did ever trouble yet befall,
And He refuse to hear thy call?
And has He not His promise past,
That thou shalt overcome at last?
4He who has helped me hithertoWill help me all my journey through,And give me daily cause to raiseNew trophies to His endless praise.
4He who has helped me hitherto
Will help me all my journey through,
And give me daily cause to raise
New trophies to His endless praise.
324.7s. M.Gaskell.Refuge in God.1We would leave, O God, to Thee,Every anxious care and fear;Thou the troubled thought canst see,Thou canst dry the bitter tear.2Thou dost care for us, we know,—Care with all a Father’s love;Thou canst make each earthly woeWork to higher bliss above.3On this faith we fain would rest;Strengthen Thou its blessed power!Steadfast keep it in our breast,Through each dark and trying hour.
7s. M.
Gaskell.
1We would leave, O God, to Thee,Every anxious care and fear;Thou the troubled thought canst see,Thou canst dry the bitter tear.
1We would leave, O God, to Thee,
Every anxious care and fear;
Thou the troubled thought canst see,
Thou canst dry the bitter tear.
2Thou dost care for us, we know,—Care with all a Father’s love;Thou canst make each earthly woeWork to higher bliss above.
2Thou dost care for us, we know,—
Care with all a Father’s love;
Thou canst make each earthly woe
Work to higher bliss above.
3On this faith we fain would rest;Strengthen Thou its blessed power!Steadfast keep it in our breast,Through each dark and trying hour.
3On this faith we fain would rest;
Strengthen Thou its blessed power!
Steadfast keep it in our breast,
Through each dark and trying hour.
325.L. M.Morpeth.The Use of Tears.1How little of ourselves we know,Before a grief the heart has felt!The lessons that we learn of woeMake strong the soul, as well as melt.2The energies too stern for mirth,The reach of thought, the strength of will,’Mid cloud and tempest have their birth,Though blight and blast their course fulfil.3And yet ’tis when it mourns and fears,The laden spirit feels forgiven;And through the mist of falling tearsWe catch the clearest glimpse of heaven.
L. M.
Morpeth.
1How little of ourselves we know,Before a grief the heart has felt!The lessons that we learn of woeMake strong the soul, as well as melt.
1How little of ourselves we know,
Before a grief the heart has felt!
The lessons that we learn of woe
Make strong the soul, as well as melt.
2The energies too stern for mirth,The reach of thought, the strength of will,’Mid cloud and tempest have their birth,Though blight and blast their course fulfil.
2The energies too stern for mirth,
The reach of thought, the strength of will,
’Mid cloud and tempest have their birth,
Though blight and blast their course fulfil.
3And yet ’tis when it mourns and fears,The laden spirit feels forgiven;And through the mist of falling tearsWe catch the clearest glimpse of heaven.
3And yet ’tis when it mourns and fears,
The laden spirit feels forgiven;
And through the mist of falling tears
We catch the clearest glimpse of heaven.
326.L. M.Bryant.Blessed Are They That Mourn.1Deem not that they are blest aloneWhose days a peaceful tenor keep;The God who loves our race has shownA blessing for the eyes that weep.2The light of smiles shall fill againThe lids that now o’erflow with tears,And weary hours of woe and painAre earnests of serener years.3O, there are days of hope and restFor every dark and troubled night!And grief may bide, an evening guest,But joy shall come with morning light.4And ye, who o’er a friend’s low bierNow shed the bitter drops like rain,Know that a brighter, happier sphereWill give him to your arms again.
L. M.
Bryant.
1Deem not that they are blest aloneWhose days a peaceful tenor keep;The God who loves our race has shownA blessing for the eyes that weep.
1Deem not that they are blest alone
Whose days a peaceful tenor keep;
The God who loves our race has shown
A blessing for the eyes that weep.
2The light of smiles shall fill againThe lids that now o’erflow with tears,And weary hours of woe and painAre earnests of serener years.
2The light of smiles shall fill again
The lids that now o’erflow with tears,
And weary hours of woe and pain
Are earnests of serener years.
3O, there are days of hope and restFor every dark and troubled night!And grief may bide, an evening guest,But joy shall come with morning light.
3O, there are days of hope and rest
For every dark and troubled night!
And grief may bide, an evening guest,
But joy shall come with morning light.
4And ye, who o’er a friend’s low bierNow shed the bitter drops like rain,Know that a brighter, happier sphereWill give him to your arms again.
4And ye, who o’er a friend’s low bier
Now shed the bitter drops like rain,
Know that a brighter, happier sphere
Will give him to your arms again.
327.L. M.Norton.My God, I Thank Thee!1My God, I thank Thee! may no thoughtE’er deem Thy chastisements severe;But may this heart, by sorrow taught,Calm each wild wish, each idle fear.2Thy mercy bids all nature bloom;The sun shines bright, and man is gay;Thine equal mercy spreads the gloomThat darkens o’er his little day.3Full many a throb of grief and painThy frail and erring child must know;But not one prayer is breathed in vain,Nor does one tear unheeded flow.4Thy various messengers employ;Thy purposes of love fulfil;And, ’mid the wreck of human joy,Let kneeling faith adore Thy will.
L. M.
Norton.
1My God, I thank Thee! may no thoughtE’er deem Thy chastisements severe;But may this heart, by sorrow taught,Calm each wild wish, each idle fear.
1My God, I thank Thee! may no thought
E’er deem Thy chastisements severe;
But may this heart, by sorrow taught,
Calm each wild wish, each idle fear.
2Thy mercy bids all nature bloom;The sun shines bright, and man is gay;Thine equal mercy spreads the gloomThat darkens o’er his little day.
2Thy mercy bids all nature bloom;
The sun shines bright, and man is gay;
Thine equal mercy spreads the gloom
That darkens o’er his little day.
3Full many a throb of grief and painThy frail and erring child must know;But not one prayer is breathed in vain,Nor does one tear unheeded flow.
3Full many a throb of grief and pain
Thy frail and erring child must know;
But not one prayer is breathed in vain,
Nor does one tear unheeded flow.
4Thy various messengers employ;Thy purposes of love fulfil;And, ’mid the wreck of human joy,Let kneeling faith adore Thy will.
4Thy various messengers employ;
Thy purposes of love fulfil;
And, ’mid the wreck of human joy,
Let kneeling faith adore Thy will.
328.L. M.Doddridge.Weeping Seedtime; Joyful Harvest.1The darkened sky, how thick it lowers!Troubled with storms, and big with showers,No cheerful gleam of light appears,But nature pours forth all her tears.2Yet let the sons of God revive;He bids the soul that seeks Him live,And from the gloomiest shade of nightCalls forth a morning of delight.3The seeds of ecstasy unknownAre in these watered furrows sown;See the green blades, how thick they rise,And with fresh verdure bless our eyes!4In secret foldings they containUnnumbered ears of golden grain;And heaven shall pour its beams around,Till the ripe harvest load the ground.5Then shall the trembling mourner come,And bind his sheaves, and bear them home,The voice long broke with sighs shall sing,Till heaven with hallelujahs ring.
L. M.
Doddridge.
1The darkened sky, how thick it lowers!Troubled with storms, and big with showers,No cheerful gleam of light appears,But nature pours forth all her tears.
1The darkened sky, how thick it lowers!
Troubled with storms, and big with showers,
No cheerful gleam of light appears,
But nature pours forth all her tears.
2Yet let the sons of God revive;He bids the soul that seeks Him live,And from the gloomiest shade of nightCalls forth a morning of delight.
2Yet let the sons of God revive;
He bids the soul that seeks Him live,
And from the gloomiest shade of night
Calls forth a morning of delight.
3The seeds of ecstasy unknownAre in these watered furrows sown;See the green blades, how thick they rise,And with fresh verdure bless our eyes!
3The seeds of ecstasy unknown
Are in these watered furrows sown;
See the green blades, how thick they rise,
And with fresh verdure bless our eyes!
4In secret foldings they containUnnumbered ears of golden grain;And heaven shall pour its beams around,Till the ripe harvest load the ground.
4In secret foldings they contain
Unnumbered ears of golden grain;
And heaven shall pour its beams around,
Till the ripe harvest load the ground.
5Then shall the trembling mourner come,And bind his sheaves, and bear them home,The voice long broke with sighs shall sing,Till heaven with hallelujahs ring.
5Then shall the trembling mourner come,
And bind his sheaves, and bear them home,
The voice long broke with sighs shall sing,
Till heaven with hallelujahs ring.
329.L. M.N. Y. Coll.Affliction, God’s Angel.1Affliction’s faded form draws nigh,With wrinkled brow and downcast eye;With sackcloth on her bosom spread,And ashes scattered o’er her head.2But deem her not a child of earth;From heaven she draws her sacred birth;Beside the throne of God she standsTo execute his kind commands.3The messenger of love, she fliesTo train us for our sphere, the skies;And onward as we move, the wayBecomes more smooth, more bright the day.4Her weeds to robes of glory turn,Her looks with kindling radiance burn;And from her lips these accents steal,—“God smites to bless, he wounds to heal!”
L. M.
N. Y. Coll.
1Affliction’s faded form draws nigh,With wrinkled brow and downcast eye;With sackcloth on her bosom spread,And ashes scattered o’er her head.
1Affliction’s faded form draws nigh,
With wrinkled brow and downcast eye;
With sackcloth on her bosom spread,
And ashes scattered o’er her head.
2But deem her not a child of earth;From heaven she draws her sacred birth;Beside the throne of God she standsTo execute his kind commands.
2But deem her not a child of earth;
From heaven she draws her sacred birth;
Beside the throne of God she stands
To execute his kind commands.
3The messenger of love, she fliesTo train us for our sphere, the skies;And onward as we move, the wayBecomes more smooth, more bright the day.
3The messenger of love, she flies
To train us for our sphere, the skies;
And onward as we move, the way
Becomes more smooth, more bright the day.
4Her weeds to robes of glory turn,Her looks with kindling radiance burn;And from her lips these accents steal,—“God smites to bless, he wounds to heal!”
4Her weeds to robes of glory turn,
Her looks with kindling radiance burn;
And from her lips these accents steal,—
“God smites to bless, he wounds to heal!”
330.10s. M.*Mrs. Howitt.In Affliction.1Thou that art strong to comfort, look on me!I sit in darkness and behold no light;Over my soul the waves of agonyHave gone, and left me in a rayless night.2A bruised and broken reed sustain! sustain!Divinest Comforter, to Thee I fly,To whom no soul hath ever fled in vain;Support me with thy love, or else I die.3Father, what’er I had, it all was thine;A God of mercy Thou hast ever been;O, help me what I most loved to resign,And if I murmur, count it not for sin.4My soul is strengthened now, and it shall bearAll that remains, whatever it may be;And from the very depths of my despairI will look up, O God, and trust in Thee!
10s. M.
*Mrs. Howitt.
1Thou that art strong to comfort, look on me!I sit in darkness and behold no light;Over my soul the waves of agonyHave gone, and left me in a rayless night.
1Thou that art strong to comfort, look on me!
I sit in darkness and behold no light;
Over my soul the waves of agony
Have gone, and left me in a rayless night.
2A bruised and broken reed sustain! sustain!Divinest Comforter, to Thee I fly,To whom no soul hath ever fled in vain;Support me with thy love, or else I die.
2A bruised and broken reed sustain! sustain!
Divinest Comforter, to Thee I fly,
To whom no soul hath ever fled in vain;
Support me with thy love, or else I die.
3Father, what’er I had, it all was thine;A God of mercy Thou hast ever been;O, help me what I most loved to resign,And if I murmur, count it not for sin.
3Father, what’er I had, it all was thine;
A God of mercy Thou hast ever been;
O, help me what I most loved to resign,
And if I murmur, count it not for sin.
4My soul is strengthened now, and it shall bearAll that remains, whatever it may be;And from the very depths of my despairI will look up, O God, and trust in Thee!
4My soul is strengthened now, and it shall bear
All that remains, whatever it may be;
And from the very depths of my despair
I will look up, O God, and trust in Thee!
331.C. M.*Barton.At Evening There Shall Be Light.1Our pathway oft is wet with tears,Our sky with clouds o’ercast,And worldly cares and worldly fearsGo with us to the last;—Not to the last! God’s word hath said,Could we but read aright:O pilgrim! lift in hope thy head,At eve it shall be light!2Though earth-born shadows now may shroudOur toilsome path a while,God’s blessed word can part each cloud,And bid the sunshine smile.If we but trust in living faith,His love and power divine,Then, though our sun may set in death,His light shall round us shine.3When tempest-clouds are dark on high,His bow of love and peaceShines beauteous in the vaulted sky,Token that storms shall cease.Then keep we on, with hope unchilled,By faith and not by sight,And we shall own his word fulfilled,—“At eve it shall be light.”
C. M.
*Barton.
1Our pathway oft is wet with tears,Our sky with clouds o’ercast,And worldly cares and worldly fearsGo with us to the last;—Not to the last! God’s word hath said,Could we but read aright:O pilgrim! lift in hope thy head,At eve it shall be light!
1Our pathway oft is wet with tears,
Our sky with clouds o’ercast,
And worldly cares and worldly fears
Go with us to the last;—
Not to the last! God’s word hath said,
Could we but read aright:
O pilgrim! lift in hope thy head,
At eve it shall be light!
2Though earth-born shadows now may shroudOur toilsome path a while,God’s blessed word can part each cloud,And bid the sunshine smile.If we but trust in living faith,His love and power divine,Then, though our sun may set in death,His light shall round us shine.
2Though earth-born shadows now may shroud
Our toilsome path a while,
God’s blessed word can part each cloud,
And bid the sunshine smile.
If we but trust in living faith,
His love and power divine,
Then, though our sun may set in death,
His light shall round us shine.
3When tempest-clouds are dark on high,His bow of love and peaceShines beauteous in the vaulted sky,Token that storms shall cease.Then keep we on, with hope unchilled,By faith and not by sight,And we shall own his word fulfilled,—“At eve it shall be light.”
3When tempest-clouds are dark on high,
His bow of love and peace
Shines beauteous in the vaulted sky,
Token that storms shall cease.
Then keep we on, with hope unchilled,
By faith and not by sight,
And we shall own his word fulfilled,—
“At eve it shall be light.”
332.C. M.Anonymous.God’s Way is on the Deep.1Thy way is on the deep, O Lord!E’en there we’ll go with Thee;We’ll meet the tempest at Thy word,And walk upon the sea.2Poor tremblers at His rougher wind,Why do we doubt Him so?Who gives the storms a path will findThe way our feet shall go.3A moment may His hand seem lost,Drear moment of delay;—We cry, “Lord, help the tempest-tost!”And safe we’re borne away.4O happy soul, of faith divine!Thy victory how sure!The love that kindles joy is thine,The patience to endure.
C. M.
Anonymous.
1Thy way is on the deep, O Lord!E’en there we’ll go with Thee;We’ll meet the tempest at Thy word,And walk upon the sea.
1Thy way is on the deep, O Lord!
E’en there we’ll go with Thee;
We’ll meet the tempest at Thy word,
And walk upon the sea.
2Poor tremblers at His rougher wind,Why do we doubt Him so?Who gives the storms a path will findThe way our feet shall go.
2Poor tremblers at His rougher wind,
Why do we doubt Him so?
Who gives the storms a path will find
The way our feet shall go.
3A moment may His hand seem lost,Drear moment of delay;—We cry, “Lord, help the tempest-tost!”And safe we’re borne away.
3A moment may His hand seem lost,
Drear moment of delay;—
We cry, “Lord, help the tempest-tost!”
And safe we’re borne away.
4O happy soul, of faith divine!Thy victory how sure!The love that kindles joy is thine,The patience to endure.
4O happy soul, of faith divine!
Thy victory how sure!
The love that kindles joy is thine,
The patience to endure.
333.H. M.Mrs. Miles.In Affliction.1Thou, infinite in love!Guide this bewildered mind,Which, like the trembling dove,No resting-place can findOn the wild waters,—God of light,Through the thick darkness lead me right!2Bid the fierce conflict cease,And fear and anguish fly;Let there again be peace,As in the days gone by:In Jesus’ name I cry to Thee,Remembering Gethsemane.3Fain would earth’s true and dearSave me in this dark hour;And art not Thou more near?Art Thou not love and power?Vain is the help of man,—but ThouCanst send deliverance even now.4Though through the future’s shadePale phantoms I descry,Let me not shrink dismayed,But ever feel Thee nigh;There may be grief, and pain, and careBut, O my Father! Thou art there.
H. M.
Mrs. Miles.
1Thou, infinite in love!Guide this bewildered mind,Which, like the trembling dove,No resting-place can findOn the wild waters,—God of light,Through the thick darkness lead me right!
1Thou, infinite in love!
Guide this bewildered mind,
Which, like the trembling dove,
No resting-place can find
On the wild waters,—God of light,
Through the thick darkness lead me right!
2Bid the fierce conflict cease,And fear and anguish fly;Let there again be peace,As in the days gone by:In Jesus’ name I cry to Thee,Remembering Gethsemane.
2Bid the fierce conflict cease,
And fear and anguish fly;
Let there again be peace,
As in the days gone by:
In Jesus’ name I cry to Thee,
Remembering Gethsemane.
3Fain would earth’s true and dearSave me in this dark hour;And art not Thou more near?Art Thou not love and power?Vain is the help of man,—but ThouCanst send deliverance even now.
3Fain would earth’s true and dear
Save me in this dark hour;
And art not Thou more near?
Art Thou not love and power?
Vain is the help of man,—but Thou
Canst send deliverance even now.
4Though through the future’s shadePale phantoms I descry,Let me not shrink dismayed,But ever feel Thee nigh;There may be grief, and pain, and careBut, O my Father! Thou art there.
4Though through the future’s shade
Pale phantoms I descry,
Let me not shrink dismayed,
But ever feel Thee nigh;
There may be grief, and pain, and care
But, O my Father! Thou art there.
334.C. M.Anonymous.Resignation.1In trouble and in grief, O God,Thy smile hath cheered my way;And joy hath budded from each thornThat round my footsteps lay.2The hours of pain have yielded goodWhich prosperous days refused;As herbs, though scentless when entire,Spread fragrance when they’re bruised.3The oak strikes deeper as its boughsBy furious blasts are driven;So life’s tempestuous storms the moreHave fixed my heart in heaven.4All gracious Lord! whate’er my lotIn other times may be,I’ll welcome still the heaviest griefThat brings me near to Thee.
C. M.
Anonymous.
1In trouble and in grief, O God,Thy smile hath cheered my way;And joy hath budded from each thornThat round my footsteps lay.
1In trouble and in grief, O God,
Thy smile hath cheered my way;
And joy hath budded from each thorn
That round my footsteps lay.
2The hours of pain have yielded goodWhich prosperous days refused;As herbs, though scentless when entire,Spread fragrance when they’re bruised.
2The hours of pain have yielded good
Which prosperous days refused;
As herbs, though scentless when entire,
Spread fragrance when they’re bruised.
3The oak strikes deeper as its boughsBy furious blasts are driven;So life’s tempestuous storms the moreHave fixed my heart in heaven.
3The oak strikes deeper as its boughs
By furious blasts are driven;
So life’s tempestuous storms the more
Have fixed my heart in heaven.
4All gracious Lord! whate’er my lotIn other times may be,I’ll welcome still the heaviest griefThat brings me near to Thee.
4All gracious Lord! whate’er my lot
In other times may be,
I’ll welcome still the heaviest grief
That brings me near to Thee.
335.7s. M.Sarah F. Adams.Dews and Tears.1Gently fall the dews of eve,Raising still the languid flowers;Sweetly flow the tears that grieveO’er a mourner’s stricken hours.2Blessed dews and tears that yetLift us nearer unto heaven!Let us still His praise repeat,Who in mercy all hath given.
7s. M.
Sarah F. Adams.
1Gently fall the dews of eve,Raising still the languid flowers;Sweetly flow the tears that grieveO’er a mourner’s stricken hours.
1Gently fall the dews of eve,
Raising still the languid flowers;
Sweetly flow the tears that grieve
O’er a mourner’s stricken hours.
2Blessed dews and tears that yetLift us nearer unto heaven!Let us still His praise repeat,Who in mercy all hath given.
2Blessed dews and tears that yet
Lift us nearer unto heaven!
Let us still His praise repeat,
Who in mercy all hath given.
336.10s. M.Anonymous.The Strength of the Lonely.1Though lonely be thy path, fear not, for HeWho marks the sparrow fall is guarding thee;And not a star shines o’er thy head by night,But He hath known that it will reach thy sight.2And not a grief can darken or surprise,Swell in thy heart, or dim with tears thine eyes,But it is sent in mercy and in love,To bid thy helplessness seek strength above.
10s. M.
Anonymous.
1Though lonely be thy path, fear not, for HeWho marks the sparrow fall is guarding thee;And not a star shines o’er thy head by night,But He hath known that it will reach thy sight.
1Though lonely be thy path, fear not, for He
Who marks the sparrow fall is guarding thee;
And not a star shines o’er thy head by night,
But He hath known that it will reach thy sight.
2And not a grief can darken or surprise,Swell in thy heart, or dim with tears thine eyes,But it is sent in mercy and in love,To bid thy helplessness seek strength above.
2And not a grief can darken or surprise,
Swell in thy heart, or dim with tears thine eyes,
But it is sent in mercy and in love,
To bid thy helplessness seek strength above.
337.L. M.Jane Roscoe.Light in Darkness.1My Father, when around me spreadI see the shadows of the tomb,When life’s bright visions droop and fade,And darkness veils the days to come,—2O, in that anguished hour I turnWith a still trusting heart to Thee,And holy thoughts arise and burnAmid that cold, sad destiny!3They fill my soul with heavenly light,While all around is pain and woe;And strengthened by them, in Thy sight,Father, to drink Thy cup I go.
L. M.
Jane Roscoe.
1My Father, when around me spreadI see the shadows of the tomb,When life’s bright visions droop and fade,And darkness veils the days to come,—
1My Father, when around me spread
I see the shadows of the tomb,
When life’s bright visions droop and fade,
And darkness veils the days to come,—
2O, in that anguished hour I turnWith a still trusting heart to Thee,And holy thoughts arise and burnAmid that cold, sad destiny!
2O, in that anguished hour I turn
With a still trusting heart to Thee,
And holy thoughts arise and burn
Amid that cold, sad destiny!
3They fill my soul with heavenly light,While all around is pain and woe;And strengthened by them, in Thy sight,Father, to drink Thy cup I go.
3They fill my soul with heavenly light,
While all around is pain and woe;
And strengthened by them, in Thy sight,
Father, to drink Thy cup I go.
338.C. M.Anonymous.Consolation.1Let me not wander comfortless,My Father, far from Thee;But still beneath Thy guardian wingIn holy quiet be.2The storms of grief, the tears of woe,Soothed by Thy love, shall cease;And all the trembling spirit breatheA deep, unbroken peace.3The power of prayer shall o’er me shedA deep, celestial calm;More soft than evening’s twilight dews,My soul shall feel its balm.4For there Thy still, small voice shall speakThy great, Thy boundless love;And tears and smiles, and grief and joy,Shall lift my soul above.
C. M.
Anonymous.
1Let me not wander comfortless,My Father, far from Thee;But still beneath Thy guardian wingIn holy quiet be.
1Let me not wander comfortless,
My Father, far from Thee;
But still beneath Thy guardian wing
In holy quiet be.
2The storms of grief, the tears of woe,Soothed by Thy love, shall cease;And all the trembling spirit breatheA deep, unbroken peace.
2The storms of grief, the tears of woe,
Soothed by Thy love, shall cease;
And all the trembling spirit breathe
A deep, unbroken peace.
3The power of prayer shall o’er me shedA deep, celestial calm;More soft than evening’s twilight dews,My soul shall feel its balm.
3The power of prayer shall o’er me shed
A deep, celestial calm;
More soft than evening’s twilight dews,
My soul shall feel its balm.
4For there Thy still, small voice shall speakThy great, Thy boundless love;And tears and smiles, and grief and joy,Shall lift my soul above.
4For there Thy still, small voice shall speak
Thy great, Thy boundless love;
And tears and smiles, and grief and joy,
Shall lift my soul above.
339.S. M.Anonymous.The Meaning of Sorrow.1We love this outward world,Its fair sky overhead,—Its morning’s soft, gray mist unfurled,Its sunsets rich and red.2But there’s a world withinThat higher glory hath;A life the immortal soul must win,—The life of joy and faith.3For this the Father’s loveDoth shade the world of sense,The bounding play of health remove,And dim the sparkling glance;4That, though the earth grows dullAnd earthly pleasures few,The spirit gain its wisdom fullTo suffer and to do.5Holy its world within,Unknown to sound or sight,—The world of victory o’er sin,Of faith, and love, and light.
S. M.
Anonymous.
1We love this outward world,Its fair sky overhead,—Its morning’s soft, gray mist unfurled,Its sunsets rich and red.
1We love this outward world,
Its fair sky overhead,—
Its morning’s soft, gray mist unfurled,
Its sunsets rich and red.
2But there’s a world withinThat higher glory hath;A life the immortal soul must win,—The life of joy and faith.
2But there’s a world within
That higher glory hath;
A life the immortal soul must win,—
The life of joy and faith.
3For this the Father’s loveDoth shade the world of sense,The bounding play of health remove,And dim the sparkling glance;
3For this the Father’s love
Doth shade the world of sense,
The bounding play of health remove,
And dim the sparkling glance;
4That, though the earth grows dullAnd earthly pleasures few,The spirit gain its wisdom fullTo suffer and to do.
4That, though the earth grows dull
And earthly pleasures few,
The spirit gain its wisdom full
To suffer and to do.
5Holy its world within,Unknown to sound or sight,—The world of victory o’er sin,Of faith, and love, and light.
5Holy its world within,
Unknown to sound or sight,—
The world of victory o’er sin,
Of faith, and love, and light.
340.11 & 10s. M.Anonymous.The Mourner.1Weep thou, O mourner! but in lamentationLet thy Redeemer still remembered be;Strong is His arm, the God of thy salvation,Strong is His love to cheer and comfort thee.2Cold though the world be, in the way before theeWail not in sadness o’er the darkling tomb;God in His love still watcheth kindly o’er thee,Light shineth still above the clouds of gloom.3Dimmed though thine eyes be with the tears of sorrowNight only known beneath the sky of time,Faith can behold the dawning of a morrowGlowing in smiles of life and joy sublime.4Change, then, O mourner, grief to exultation;Firm and confiding should thy spirit be;Strong is His arm, the God of thy salvation,Strong is His love to cheer and comfort thee.
11 & 10s. M.
Anonymous.
1Weep thou, O mourner! but in lamentationLet thy Redeemer still remembered be;Strong is His arm, the God of thy salvation,Strong is His love to cheer and comfort thee.
1Weep thou, O mourner! but in lamentation
Let thy Redeemer still remembered be;
Strong is His arm, the God of thy salvation,
Strong is His love to cheer and comfort thee.
2Cold though the world be, in the way before theeWail not in sadness o’er the darkling tomb;God in His love still watcheth kindly o’er thee,Light shineth still above the clouds of gloom.
2Cold though the world be, in the way before thee
Wail not in sadness o’er the darkling tomb;
God in His love still watcheth kindly o’er thee,
Light shineth still above the clouds of gloom.
3Dimmed though thine eyes be with the tears of sorrowNight only known beneath the sky of time,Faith can behold the dawning of a morrowGlowing in smiles of life and joy sublime.
3Dimmed though thine eyes be with the tears of sorrow
Night only known beneath the sky of time,
Faith can behold the dawning of a morrow
Glowing in smiles of life and joy sublime.
4Change, then, O mourner, grief to exultation;Firm and confiding should thy spirit be;Strong is His arm, the God of thy salvation,Strong is His love to cheer and comfort thee.
4Change, then, O mourner, grief to exultation;
Firm and confiding should thy spirit be;
Strong is His arm, the God of thy salvation,
Strong is His love to cheer and comfort thee.
341.P. M.Mrs. Hemans.For Strength.1Father! who in the olive shade,When the dark hour came on,Didst, with a breath of heavenly aid,Strengthen thy Son;2O, in the anguish of our night,Send us down blest relief;And to the chastened, let Thy mightHallow the grief!3And thou, that, when the starry skySaw the dread strife begun,Didst teach adoring faith to cry,“Thy will be done!”—4By thy meek spirit, thou, of allThat e’er have mourned the chief,Our Saviour! when the stroke doth fall,Hallow our grief!
P. M.
Mrs. Hemans.
1Father! who in the olive shade,When the dark hour came on,Didst, with a breath of heavenly aid,Strengthen thy Son;
1Father! who in the olive shade,
When the dark hour came on,
Didst, with a breath of heavenly aid,
Strengthen thy Son;
2O, in the anguish of our night,Send us down blest relief;And to the chastened, let Thy mightHallow the grief!
2O, in the anguish of our night,
Send us down blest relief;
And to the chastened, let Thy might
Hallow the grief!
3And thou, that, when the starry skySaw the dread strife begun,Didst teach adoring faith to cry,“Thy will be done!”—
3And thou, that, when the starry sky
Saw the dread strife begun,
Didst teach adoring faith to cry,
“Thy will be done!”—
4By thy meek spirit, thou, of allThat e’er have mourned the chief,Our Saviour! when the stroke doth fall,Hallow our grief!
4By thy meek spirit, thou, of all
That e’er have mourned the chief,
Our Saviour! when the stroke doth fall,
Hallow our grief!
342.11 & 4s. M.Whittier.The Angels of Grief.1With silence only as their benediction,God’s angels comeWhere, in the shadow of a great affliction,The soul sits dumb.2Yet would we say, what every heart approveth,—Our Father’s will,Calling to Him the dear ones whom he loveth,Is mercy still.3Not upon us or ours the solemn angelHath evil wrought;The funeral anthem is a glad evangel;The good die not!4God calls our loved ones, but we lose not whollyWhat He has given;They live on earth in thought and deed, as trulyAs in His heaven.
11 & 4s. M.
Whittier.
1With silence only as their benediction,God’s angels comeWhere, in the shadow of a great affliction,The soul sits dumb.
1With silence only as their benediction,
God’s angels come
Where, in the shadow of a great affliction,
The soul sits dumb.
2Yet would we say, what every heart approveth,—Our Father’s will,Calling to Him the dear ones whom he loveth,Is mercy still.
2Yet would we say, what every heart approveth,—
Our Father’s will,
Calling to Him the dear ones whom he loveth,
Is mercy still.
3Not upon us or ours the solemn angelHath evil wrought;The funeral anthem is a glad evangel;The good die not!
3Not upon us or ours the solemn angel
Hath evil wrought;
The funeral anthem is a glad evangel;
The good die not!
4God calls our loved ones, but we lose not whollyWhat He has given;They live on earth in thought and deed, as trulyAs in His heaven.
4God calls our loved ones, but we lose not wholly
What He has given;
They live on earth in thought and deed, as truly
As in His heaven.
343.C. M.Wilson.Angels.1O, not when the death-prayer is said,The life of life departs;The body in the grave is laid,Its beauty in our hearts.2At holy midnight, voices sweet,Like fragrance, fill the room;And happy ghosts, with noiseless feet,Come brightening through the gloom.3We know who sends the visions bright,From whose dear side they came;We veil our eyes before Thy light,We bless our Father’s name!4This frame, O God, this feeble breath,Thy hand may soon destroy;We think of Thee, and feel in deathA deep and holy joy.5Dim is the light of vanished yearsIn glory yet to come;O idle grief, O foolish tears,When Jesus calls us home!
C. M.
Wilson.
1O, not when the death-prayer is said,The life of life departs;The body in the grave is laid,Its beauty in our hearts.
1O, not when the death-prayer is said,
The life of life departs;
The body in the grave is laid,
Its beauty in our hearts.
2At holy midnight, voices sweet,Like fragrance, fill the room;And happy ghosts, with noiseless feet,Come brightening through the gloom.
2At holy midnight, voices sweet,
Like fragrance, fill the room;
And happy ghosts, with noiseless feet,
Come brightening through the gloom.
3We know who sends the visions bright,From whose dear side they came;We veil our eyes before Thy light,We bless our Father’s name!
3We know who sends the visions bright,
From whose dear side they came;
We veil our eyes before Thy light,
We bless our Father’s name!
4This frame, O God, this feeble breath,Thy hand may soon destroy;We think of Thee, and feel in deathA deep and holy joy.
4This frame, O God, this feeble breath,
Thy hand may soon destroy;
We think of Thee, and feel in death
A deep and holy joy.
5Dim is the light of vanished yearsIn glory yet to come;O idle grief, O foolish tears,When Jesus calls us home!
5Dim is the light of vanished years
In glory yet to come;
O idle grief, O foolish tears,
When Jesus calls us home!
344.P. M.Mrs. Hemans.The Cry of the Afflicted.1Lowly and solemn beThy children’s cry to Thee,Father divine!A hymn of suppliant breath,Owning that life and deathAlike are Thine.2O Father, in that hourWhen earth all helping powerShall disavow;When spear, and shield, and crown,In faintness are cast down,Sustain us Thou!3By him who bowed to takeThe death-cup for our sake,The thorn, the rod;From whom the last dismayWas not to pass away,Aid us, O God!4And now beside the grave,We call on Thee to save,Father divine!Hear, hear our suppliant breath;Keep us, in life and death,Thine, only Thine!
P. M.
Mrs. Hemans.
1Lowly and solemn beThy children’s cry to Thee,Father divine!A hymn of suppliant breath,Owning that life and deathAlike are Thine.
1Lowly and solemn be
Thy children’s cry to Thee,
Father divine!
A hymn of suppliant breath,
Owning that life and death
Alike are Thine.
2O Father, in that hourWhen earth all helping powerShall disavow;When spear, and shield, and crown,In faintness are cast down,Sustain us Thou!
2O Father, in that hour
When earth all helping power
Shall disavow;
When spear, and shield, and crown,
In faintness are cast down,
Sustain us Thou!
3By him who bowed to takeThe death-cup for our sake,The thorn, the rod;From whom the last dismayWas not to pass away,Aid us, O God!
3By him who bowed to take
The death-cup for our sake,
The thorn, the rod;
From whom the last dismay
Was not to pass away,
Aid us, O God!
4And now beside the grave,We call on Thee to save,Father divine!Hear, hear our suppliant breath;Keep us, in life and death,Thine, only Thine!
4And now beside the grave,
We call on Thee to save,
Father divine!
Hear, hear our suppliant breath;
Keep us, in life and death,
Thine, only Thine!
345.12 & 11s. M.Gaskell.Life in Death.1Thanks, thanks unto God! who in mercy hath spokenThe truths which have pierced through the spirit’s sad gloom;Whose love with the light of its presence hath brokenThe darkness which hung o’er the desolate tomb.2What now shall affright us? A Father almightyKeeps watch round our footsteps wherever we go;His mercy is sleepless,—His wisdom unfailing,—He knoweth each want and regardeth each woe.3Where now is death’s terror? he comes as an angelTo carry the spirit away to its rest;The gloom which he weareth is lost in the messageHe brings from the Being who loveth us best.4May we live ever true to the hopes He hath given,While they shed o’er our path a still holier light;Ever making us nearer and nearer to heaven,More pure our affections, our spirits more bright.
12 & 11s. M.
Gaskell.
1Thanks, thanks unto God! who in mercy hath spokenThe truths which have pierced through the spirit’s sad gloom;Whose love with the light of its presence hath brokenThe darkness which hung o’er the desolate tomb.
1Thanks, thanks unto God! who in mercy hath spoken
The truths which have pierced through the spirit’s sad gloom;
Whose love with the light of its presence hath broken
The darkness which hung o’er the desolate tomb.
2What now shall affright us? A Father almightyKeeps watch round our footsteps wherever we go;His mercy is sleepless,—His wisdom unfailing,—He knoweth each want and regardeth each woe.
2What now shall affright us? A Father almighty
Keeps watch round our footsteps wherever we go;
His mercy is sleepless,—His wisdom unfailing,—
He knoweth each want and regardeth each woe.
3Where now is death’s terror? he comes as an angelTo carry the spirit away to its rest;The gloom which he weareth is lost in the messageHe brings from the Being who loveth us best.
3Where now is death’s terror? he comes as an angel
To carry the spirit away to its rest;
The gloom which he weareth is lost in the message
He brings from the Being who loveth us best.
4May we live ever true to the hopes He hath given,While they shed o’er our path a still holier light;Ever making us nearer and nearer to heaven,More pure our affections, our spirits more bright.
4May we live ever true to the hopes He hath given,
While they shed o’er our path a still holier light;
Ever making us nearer and nearer to heaven,
More pure our affections, our spirits more bright.
346.L. M.Norton.O, Stay Thy Tears!1O, stay thy tears! for they are blestWhose days are past, whose toil is done;Here midnight care disturbs our rest,Here sorrow dims the morning sun.2For laboring virtue’s anxious toil,For patient sorrow’s stifled sigh,For faith that marks the conqueror’s spoil,Heaven grants the recompense,—to die.3How blest are they whose transient yearsPass like an evening meteor’s flight,Not dark with guilt, nor dim with tears,Whose course is short, unclouded, bright!4O, cheerless were our lengthened way,But heaven’s own light dispels the gloom,Streams downward from eternal day,And sheds a glory round the tomb!5Then stay thy tears,—the blest aboveHave hailed a spirit’s heavenly birth,Sung a new song of joy and love;Then why should anguish reign on earth?
L. M.
Norton.
1O, stay thy tears! for they are blestWhose days are past, whose toil is done;Here midnight care disturbs our rest,Here sorrow dims the morning sun.
1O, stay thy tears! for they are blest
Whose days are past, whose toil is done;
Here midnight care disturbs our rest,
Here sorrow dims the morning sun.
2For laboring virtue’s anxious toil,For patient sorrow’s stifled sigh,For faith that marks the conqueror’s spoil,Heaven grants the recompense,—to die.
2For laboring virtue’s anxious toil,
For patient sorrow’s stifled sigh,
For faith that marks the conqueror’s spoil,
Heaven grants the recompense,—to die.
3How blest are they whose transient yearsPass like an evening meteor’s flight,Not dark with guilt, nor dim with tears,Whose course is short, unclouded, bright!
3How blest are they whose transient years
Pass like an evening meteor’s flight,
Not dark with guilt, nor dim with tears,
Whose course is short, unclouded, bright!
4O, cheerless were our lengthened way,But heaven’s own light dispels the gloom,Streams downward from eternal day,And sheds a glory round the tomb!
4O, cheerless were our lengthened way,
But heaven’s own light dispels the gloom,
Streams downward from eternal day,
And sheds a glory round the tomb!
5Then stay thy tears,—the blest aboveHave hailed a spirit’s heavenly birth,Sung a new song of joy and love;Then why should anguish reign on earth?
5Then stay thy tears,—the blest above
Have hailed a spirit’s heavenly birth,
Sung a new song of joy and love;
Then why should anguish reign on earth?
347.L. M.Sarah F. Adams.The Angel at the Tomb.1The mourners came, at break of day,Unto the garden sepulchre,With saddened hearts to weep and prayFor him, the loved one, buried there.What radiant light dispels the gloom?An angel sits beside the tomb.2The earth doth mourn her treasures lost,All sepulchred beneath the snow,When wintry winds and chilling frostHave laid her summer glories low;The spring returns, the flow’rets bloom,—An angel sits beside the tomb.3Then mourn we not beloved dead,E’en while we come to weep and pray;The happy spirit hath but fledTo brighter realms of heavenly day;Immortal hope dispels the gloom;—An angel sits beside the tomb.
L. M.
Sarah F. Adams.
1The mourners came, at break of day,Unto the garden sepulchre,With saddened hearts to weep and prayFor him, the loved one, buried there.What radiant light dispels the gloom?An angel sits beside the tomb.
1The mourners came, at break of day,
Unto the garden sepulchre,
With saddened hearts to weep and pray
For him, the loved one, buried there.
What radiant light dispels the gloom?
An angel sits beside the tomb.
2The earth doth mourn her treasures lost,All sepulchred beneath the snow,When wintry winds and chilling frostHave laid her summer glories low;The spring returns, the flow’rets bloom,—An angel sits beside the tomb.
2The earth doth mourn her treasures lost,
All sepulchred beneath the snow,
When wintry winds and chilling frost
Have laid her summer glories low;
The spring returns, the flow’rets bloom,—
An angel sits beside the tomb.
3Then mourn we not beloved dead,E’en while we come to weep and pray;The happy spirit hath but fledTo brighter realms of heavenly day;Immortal hope dispels the gloom;—An angel sits beside the tomb.
3Then mourn we not beloved dead,
E’en while we come to weep and pray;
The happy spirit hath but fled
To brighter realms of heavenly day;
Immortal hope dispels the gloom;—
An angel sits beside the tomb.
348.7 & 5s. M.Bowring.Blessed Are the Dead.1Blessed, blessed are the deadIn the Lord who die;Radiant is the path they treadUpward to the sky.2All their deeds of virtue done,Deeds of peace and love,Now are stars of glory strewn,Lighting them above.
7 & 5s. M.
Bowring.
1Blessed, blessed are the deadIn the Lord who die;Radiant is the path they treadUpward to the sky.
1Blessed, blessed are the dead
In the Lord who die;
Radiant is the path they tread
Upward to the sky.
2All their deeds of virtue done,Deeds of peace and love,Now are stars of glory strewn,Lighting them above.
2All their deeds of virtue done,
Deeds of peace and love,
Now are stars of glory strewn,
Lighting them above.
349.S. M.Bowring.O Death, Where Is Thy Sting?1Where is thy sting, O death?Grave! where thy victory?The clod may sleep in dust beneath,The spirit will be free!2Both man and time have powerO’er suffering, dying men;But death arrives, and in that hourThe soul is freed again.3Then, death, where is thy sting?And where thy victory, grave?O’er your dark bourn the soul will springTo Him who loves to save.
S. M.
Bowring.
1Where is thy sting, O death?Grave! where thy victory?The clod may sleep in dust beneath,The spirit will be free!
1Where is thy sting, O death?
Grave! where thy victory?
The clod may sleep in dust beneath,
The spirit will be free!
2Both man and time have powerO’er suffering, dying men;But death arrives, and in that hourThe soul is freed again.
2Both man and time have power
O’er suffering, dying men;
But death arrives, and in that hour
The soul is freed again.
3Then, death, where is thy sting?And where thy victory, grave?O’er your dark bourn the soul will springTo Him who loves to save.
3Then, death, where is thy sting?
And where thy victory, grave?
O’er your dark bourn the soul will spring
To Him who loves to save.
350.L. M.Mrs. Barbauld.His End is Peace.1How blest the righteous when he dies!When sinks a trusting soul to rest,How mildly beam the closing eyes,How gently heaves the expiring breast!2So fades a summer cloud away;So sinks the gale when storms are o’er;So gently shuts the eye of day;So dies a wave along the shore.3A holy quiet reigns around,A calm which life nor death destroys;And naught disturbs that peace profoundWhich his unfettered soul enjoys.4Farewell, conflicting hopes and fears,Where lights and shades alternate dwell!How bright the unchanging morn appears!Farewell, inconstant world, farewell!5Life’s duty done, as sinks the clay,Light from its load the spirit flies;While guardian angels gently say,“How blest the righteous when he dies!”
L. M.
Mrs. Barbauld.
1How blest the righteous when he dies!When sinks a trusting soul to rest,How mildly beam the closing eyes,How gently heaves the expiring breast!
1How blest the righteous when he dies!
When sinks a trusting soul to rest,
How mildly beam the closing eyes,
How gently heaves the expiring breast!
2So fades a summer cloud away;So sinks the gale when storms are o’er;So gently shuts the eye of day;So dies a wave along the shore.
2So fades a summer cloud away;
So sinks the gale when storms are o’er;
So gently shuts the eye of day;
So dies a wave along the shore.
3A holy quiet reigns around,A calm which life nor death destroys;And naught disturbs that peace profoundWhich his unfettered soul enjoys.
3A holy quiet reigns around,
A calm which life nor death destroys;
And naught disturbs that peace profound
Which his unfettered soul enjoys.
4Farewell, conflicting hopes and fears,Where lights and shades alternate dwell!How bright the unchanging morn appears!Farewell, inconstant world, farewell!
4Farewell, conflicting hopes and fears,
Where lights and shades alternate dwell!
How bright the unchanging morn appears!
Farewell, inconstant world, farewell!
5Life’s duty done, as sinks the clay,Light from its load the spirit flies;While guardian angels gently say,“How blest the righteous when he dies!”
5Life’s duty done, as sinks the clay,
Light from its load the spirit flies;
While guardian angels gently say,
“How blest the righteous when he dies!”