"That when his brethren were convened

To meet for social prayer,
He too, admonish'd by the call,
In spirit might be there.

“Or when a glad thanksgiving sound,
Upon the winds of heaven,

Was sent to speak a nation's joy,
For some great blessing given—

"For victory by sea or land,

And happy peace at length; Peace by his country's valour won, And 'stablish'd by her strength.

"When such exultant peals were borne

Upon the mountain air,

The sound should stir his blood, and give
An English impulse there."

Such thoughts were in the old man's mind,
When he that eve look'd down

From Stanemore's side, on Borrodaile,
And on the distant town.

And had I store of wealth, methinks,
Another herd of kine,

John Brunskill, I would freely give,
That they may crune with thine.

R. Southey

CCXL

TO THE WIND IN AN EOLIAN HARP

Ethereal race, inhabitants of air,

Who hymn your God amid the secret grove,
Ye unseen beings, to my harp repair,
And raise majestic strains, or melt in love.

Those tender notes, how kindly they upbraid!
With what soft woe they thrill the listener's heart!
Sure from the hand of some unhappy maid,
Who died in youth, these sweet complainings part.

But hark! that strain was of a graver tone,
On the deep strings his hand some hermit throws;
Or he the sacred Bard who sat alone

In the drear waste, and wept his peoples' woes.

Such was the song which Zion's children sung,
When by Euphrates' stream they made their plaint;
And to such sadly solemn tones are strung
Angelic harps, to soothe a dying saint.

Methinks I hear the full celestial choir

Thro' heaven's high dome their awful anthem raise;
Now chanting clear, and now they all conspire
To swell the lofty hymn from praise to praise.

Let me, ye wand'ring spirits of the wind,
Who, as wild fancy prompts you, touch the string,
Smit with your theme, be in your chorus join'd,
For till you cease my muse forgets to sing.

X

J. Thomson

CCXLI

GOD IN NATURE AND GRACE

God is love; the heavens tell it

Through their glorious orbs of light, In that glad and golden language Speaking to us day and night, Their great story,

God is love, and God is light.

And the teeming earth rejoices
In that message from above,
With ten thousand thousand voices
Telling back, from hill and grove,
Her glad story,

God is might, and God is love.

Through these anthems of creation,
Struggling up with gentle strife,
Christian songs of Christ's salvation
To the world, with blessings rife,
Tell their story,

God is love, and God is life.

Up to Him let each affection

Duly rise, and round Him move;
Our whole lives one resurrection
To the life of life above;

Our glad story,

God is life, and God is love.

Anon.

CCXLII

THE CREATION

All things bright and beautiful, All creatures, great and small, All things wise and wonderful, The Lord God made them all.

Each little flower that opens,
Each little bird that sings,
He made their glowing colours,
He made their tiny wings;

The rich man in his castle,
The poor man at his gate,
God made them, high or lowly,
And order'd their estate.

The purple-headed mountain,
The river running by,

The sunset, and the morning
That brightens up the sky;

The cold wind in the winter,
The pleasant summer sun,
The ripe fruits in the garden,—
He made them every one.

The tall trees in the greenwood, The meadows where we play,

The rushes by the water

We gather every day ;—

308

The Sunday Book of Poetry
He gave us eyes to see them,
And lips that we might tell
How great is God Almighty
Who has made all things well!

C. F. Alexander