The most beloved on earth
Not long survives to-day ;
So music past is obsolete,
And yet 'twas sweet, 'twas passing sweet,
But now 'tis gone away :
Thus does the shade
In memory fade,
When in forsaken tomb the form beloved is laid !
Then since this world is vain
And volatile and fleet,
Why should I lay up earthly joys,
Where rust corrupts and moth destroys,
And cares and sorrows eat?
Why fly from ill
With anxious skill, When soon this hand will freeze, this throbbing heart
lie still?
“ TOUCHED WITH THE FEELING OF OUR INFIRMITIES.'
When gathering clouds around I view,
And days are dark, and friends are few;
On Him I lean, who, not in vain,
Experienced every human pain :
He sees my griefs, allays my fears,
And counts and treasures up my tears.
If aught should tempt my soul to stray
From heavenly wisdom's narrow way,
To fly the good I would pursue,
Or do the thing I would not do ;
Still He who felt temptation's power,
Will guard me in that dangerous hour.
If wounded love my bosom swell,
Despised by those I prized too well ;
He sball His pitying aid bestow,
Who felt on earth severer woe:
At once betrayed, denied, or fled,
By those who shared his daily bread.
When vexing thoughts within me rise,
And, sore dismayed, my spirit dies ;
Yet, He, who once vouchsafed to bear
The sickening anguish of despair,
Shall sweetly soothe, shall gently dry,
The throbbing heart, the streaming eye.
When mourning o'er some stone I bend,
Which covers all that was a friend ;
And from His voice, His hand, His smile,
Divides me for a little while ;
Thou, Saviour, mark'st the tears I shed,
For Thou didst weep o'er Lazarus dead.
And Oh! when I have safely past
Through every conflict but the last ;
Still, still unchanging, watch beside
My painful bed,—for Thou hast died ;
Then point to realms of cloudless day,
And wipe the latest tear away.
"WHO IN THE DAYS OF HIS FLESH,-LEARNED OBEDIENCE
BY THE THINGS WHICH HE SUFFERED.”
SAVIOUR ! when in dust to Thee,
Low we bow th' adoring knee,
When, repentant, to the skies
Scarce we lift our streaming eyes,-
Oh! by all the pains and woe,
Suffered once for man below,
Bending from Thy throne on high,
Hear our solemn litany.
By Thy helpless infant years,
By Thy life of wants and tears,
By Thy days of sore distress
In the savage wilderness, —
By the dread, permitted hour
Of th' insulting tempter's power,
Turn, O turn a pitying eye,
Hear our solemn litany!
By the sacred griefs that wept,
O’er the grave where Lazarus slept,-
By the boding tears that flowed
Over Salem's loved abode, -
By the anguished tear that told
Treachery lurked within thy fold, -
From Thy seat above the sky,
Hear our solemn litany!
By Thine hour of dire despair,
By Thine agony of prayer,-
By the cross, the nail, the thorn,
Piercing spear, and torturing scorn,
By the gloom that veiled the skies
O'er the dreadful sacrifice,
Listen to our humble cry,
Hear our solemn litany!
By the deep expiring groan,
By the sad sepulchral stone,
By the vault whose dark abode
Held in vain the rising God, -
Oh! from earth to heaven restored,
Mighty re-ascended Lord,
Listen, listen to the cry
Of our solemn litany!
|