Imágenes de páginas
PDF
EPUB
[blocks in formation]

I love thee so, I know not how
My transports to control;
Thy love is like a burning fire
Within my very soul.

Oh, wonderful that thou shouldst let
So vile a heart as mine

Love thee with such a love as this,
And make so free with thine.
The craft of this wise world of ours
Poor wisdom seems to me;
Ah, dearest Jesus! I have grown
Childish with love of thee!

For thou to me art all in all,

My honor and my wealth,

My heart's desire, my body's strength, My soul's eternal health.

Burn, burn, O love! within my heart

Burn fiercely night and day,
Till all the dross of earthly loves
Is burned, and burned away.

O Light in darkness, Joy in grief,
O Heaven begun on earth!
Jesus! my love, my treasure who
Can tell what thou art worth?

O Jesus! Jesus! sweetest Lord!
What art thou not to me?

Each hour brings joys before unknown,
Each day, new liberty!

What limit is there to thee, love?

Thy flight where wilt thou stay?
On, on our Lord is sweeter far
To-day than yesterday.

O Love of Jesus! blessed love!
So will it ever be ;

Time cannot hold thy wondrous growth,
No, nor eternity!

FREDERICK WILLIAM FABER.

1840.

JESUS, MY GOD AND MY ALL.

FREDERICK WILLIAM FABER was born at Durham, England, June 28, 1814, and after graduation at Oxford became a tutor and fellow of that university. In 1846 he became a Roman Catholic, and in 1849 went to London and organized a brotherhood. He had established his reputation as a poet in 1840. The complete edition of his hymns, published in 1862, comprises one hundred and fifty pieces, many of them of great beauty, and some have been taken to enrich the collections of those who do not agree with the author's religious views. Dr. Faber died Sept. 26, 1863. The " "heavenly homesickness," as it has been called, of some of Faber's hymns is deficient in hopefulness.

O JESUS! Jesus! dearest Lord,
Forgive me if I say,

For very love, thy sacred name

A thousand times a day.

MERCY BESOUGHT.

CORNELIUS ELVEN, pastor of a Baptist church in Bury St. Edmunds, Suffolk, England, was born in 1797. The hymn here given was written to be used with revival sermons preached to his people.

WITH broken heart and contrite sigh,
A trembling sinner, Lord, I cry;
Thy pardoning grace is rich and free:
O God, be merciful to me!

I smite upon my troubled breast,
With deep and conscious guilt oppressed;
Christ and his cross my only plea:

O God, be merciful to me!

1852.

JUST AS I AM.

Far off I stand with tearful eyes, Nor dare uplift them to the skies; But thou dost all my anguish see, O God, be merciful to me!

Nor alms, nor deeds that I have done,
Can for a single sin atone;
To Calvary alone I flee:
O God, be merciful to me!

And when redeemed from sin and hell,
With all the ransomed throng I dwell,
My raptured song shall ever be,
God has been merciful to me !

CORNELIUS ELVEN.

[merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][ocr errors][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][ocr errors][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small]

ALLEZ A CHRIST.

APPEL D'UNE VOIX ÉTRANGÈRE.

637

"Je ne mettrai point dehors celui qui viendra à Moi." JEAN vi. 37.

"A foreign lady in mourning, passing through Geneva, Switzerland, (in September, 1957), where she knew no one, wished to call upon a Christian, whose name she was acquainted with and not finding h`m, left at his house eighty francs, in part to print and distribute the following hymn, and in part for a work of charity; not wishing to pass through that city, she said, without leaving there a mark of affection." Tel que je suis - sans aucune défense, N'espérant qu'en ton sang versé pour mon offense, Vaincu par tes appels, qui font mon assurance, Agneau de Dieu, je viens!

Tel que je suis me sentant incapable
D'effacer de mon âme un seul désir coupable,
A toi qui m'as aimé d'un amour ineffable,
Agneau de Dieu, je viens!

Tel que je suis-ballotté dans ma route
Au dedans, au dehors par la crainte et le doute,
Par des combats sans fin, que mon âme re-
doute,

Agneau de Dieu, je viens!

Tel que je suis - aveugle et misérable,
Santé d'âme, et d'esprit, vie et paix véritable,'
Je trouve tout en toi, mon Sauveur adorable,
Agneau de Dieu, je viens!

Tel que je suis ne cache point ta face,
Pardonne, accueille-moi, tous mes péchés

efface,

Seigneur, n'ai-je pas cru ta promesse de grâce?

Agneau de Dieu, je viens!

Tel que je suis par ton amour immense,
Tu brises, de mon cœur, la longue résistance;
Pour être tout à toi, pour vivre en ta présence,
Agneau de Dieu ! je viens.

CHARLOTTE ELLIOTT. Translator unknown.

A PRAYER TO CHRIST. CHARLOTTE ELLIOTT, widely known as author of the hymn "Just as I am," was grand daughter of the ce ebrated Rev. John Venn. She was born in 1789, and died in 1871. She was a contributor to the "Invalid's Hymn-Book," and published several volumes of poems, some of the pieces in which became very popular. She wrote with the purpose of doing good

O THOU, the contrite sinners' Friend,
Who loving, lov'st them to the end,
On this alone my hopes depend,

That thou wilt plead for me!

[blocks in formation]
[blocks in formation]

EMMANUEL'S LAND.

COME, we who love the Lord,
And let our joys be known;
Join in a song of sweet accord,
And thus surround the throne.
The sorrows of the mind

Be banished from this place!
Religion never was designed
To make our pleasures less.
Let those refuse to sing

Who never knew our God;
But servants of the heavenly King
Should speak their joys abroad.
The God that rules on high,

And thunders when he please,
That rides upon the stormy sky,
And manages the seas;

This awful God is ours,

Our Father and our love; He shall send down his heavenly powers, To carry us above.

There we shall see his face,

And never, never sin ;

And from the rivers of his grace
Drink endless pleasures in.

Yea, and before we rise

To that immortal state,
The thoughts of such amazing bliss
Should constant joys create.

The men of grace have found

Glory begun below;

Celestial fruits, on earthly ground,

From faith and hope may grow.

The hill of Zion yields

A thousand sacred sweets

Before we reach the heavenly fields,

Or walk the golden streets.

Then let our songs abound,

And every tear be dry;

[blocks in formation]

A son is light and fruit, a fruitful flame
Chasing the father's dimness, carried far
From the first man in the east, to fresh and new
Western discoveries of posterity.

So in one word our Lord's humility

We turn upon him in a sense most true;
For what Christ once in humbleness began,

We're marching through Emmanuel's ground We him in glory call, the Son of man.

To fairer worlds on high.

GEORGE HERBERT.

[blocks in formation]

MRS. GRACE WEBSTER HINSDALE, daughter of the late Prof. Charles B. Haddock, of Dartmouth College, and granddaughter of Abigail Webster (sister of Daniel Webster), was born at Hanover, N. H., in 1832. Her husband is Theodore Hinsdale, and her home is in Brooklyn, L. I. Mrs. Hinsdale is a frequent contributor of religious poetry to the periodical press.

JESUS! the rays divine,

Which from thy presence shine,
Cast light o'er depths profound,
Which in thy word are found,

And lead me on!

The love within thine eye
Oft checks the rising sigh ;
The touch of thy dear hand
Answers my heart's demand,
And comforts me!

Yes, Lord, in hours of gloom,
When shadows fill my room,

When pain breathes forth its groans,
And grief its sighs and moans,
Then thou art near!

Oh! will it always be
That thou wilt comfort me?
When friends are far away,
Wilt thou, my Saviour, stay,
And soothe my pain?

Jesus, thou art my life!

[blocks in formation]

REMEMBER ME!

O THOU, from whom all goodness flows,
I lift my heart to thee;

In all my sorrows, conflicts, woes,
Dear Lord, remember me!

When groaning on my burdened heart
My sins lie heavily,

1792.

My pardon speak, new peace impart,
In love remember me !

Temptations sore obstruct my way,
And ills I cannot flee:

Oh, give me strength, Lord, as my day;
For good remember me!

Distrest in pain, disease, and grief,
This feeble body see!

Grant patience, rest, and kind relief;
Hear, and remember me!

If on my face, for thy dear name,
Shame and reproaches be,

All hail reproach, and welcome shame,
If thou remember me!

The hour is near; consigned to death,
I own the just decree;

"Saviour!" with my last parting breath,
I'll cry, "Remember me!"

PEACE.

THOMAS HAWEIS.

Is this the peace of God, this strange sweet

calm?

The weary day is at its zenith still,

Yet 't is as if beside some cool, clear rill, Through shadowy stillness rose an evening psalm,

And all the noise of life were hushed away,
And tranquil gladness reigned with gently
soothing sway.

It was not so just now. I turned aside
With aching head, and heart most sorely
bowed;

Around me cares and griefs in crushing crowd,
While inly rose the sense, in swelling tide,
Of weakness, insufficiency, and sin,
And fear, and gloom, and doubt in mighty
flood rolled in.

That rushing flood I had no power to meet, Nor power to flee: my present, future, past, Myself, my sorrow, and my sin I cast

In utter helplessness at Jesu's feet: Then bent me to the storm, if such his will. He saw the winds and waves, and whispered, "Peace, be still!"

And there was calm! O Saviour, I have proved

That thou to help and save art really near: How else this quiet rest from grief and fear And all distress? The cross is not removed, I must go forth to bear it as before,

But, leaning on thine arm, I dread its weight

[blocks in formation]

The seed, before it flourish,

Must low in darkness lie;
And love, to live forever,
Must for a season die.

But those like thee, bereaved,
Within earth's darkened home,
Are rich in many a promise
And pledge of joys to come.
"Trust in my mercy ever,

My people," saith the Lord;
Hold fast in deepest sorrow,
That soul sustaining word.

The harvest-day is hasting,

The rest from toil and pain, When those who sleep in Jesus

Shall come with him again.

And, more than all the treasures

That morning shall restore,
Himself, himself, shall meet thee,
Thy portion evermore!

Then rest, sad heart, in patience,
With this petition still,

"Lord, all these vacant places

With thine own fulness fill!" Translated from the German of META HEUSSER SCHWEIZER, 1837, by JANE BORTHWICK, 1863

FAITH'S QUESTION.

To whom, O Saviour, shall we go
For life, and joy, and light?
No help, no comfort from below,
No lasting gladness we may know,
No hope may bless our sight.
Our souls are weary and athirst,
But earth is iron-bound and cursed,
And nothing she may yield can stay
The restless yearnings day by day;
Yet, without thee, Redeemer blest,
We would not, if we could, find rest.

To whom, O Saviour, shall we go?
We gaze around in vain.
Though pleasure's fairy lute be strung,
And mirth's enchaining lay be sung,
We dare not trust the strain.
The touch of sorrow or of sin
Hath saddened all, without, within;
What here we fondly love and prize,
However beauteous be its guise,
Has passed, is passing, or may pass,
Like frost-fringe on the autumn grass

« AnteriorContinuar »