FROM THE LIBRARY OF REV. LOUIS FITZGERALD BENSON, D. D. BEQUEATHED BY HIM TO THE LIBRARY OF PRINCETON THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY *r V THE RIVULET. Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2013 http://archive.org/details/songtributOOIync ^ ■>: 'V -* JAN - ? 1933 ,«r. <2/ a. v-- THE RIVUUE^ CONTRIBUTION TO SACRED SONG. BY THOMAS T. LYNCH. Jfilth etition. ' He shall drink of the brook in the way : therefore shall he lift up the head.* JAMES CLARKE AND CO. 13 & i 4) FLEET STREET, LONDON. I88V LONDON : PRINTED BY J. S. VIRTUE AND CO., LIMITED, CITY ROAD. PREFACE. The streams of sacred song make glad the City of God. They are, too, streams in the desert ; and many who are weary and athirst as they travel towards the City, drinking of a brook by the way, can go on that way rejoicing. Christian poetry is indeed a river of the water of life; and to this river my "Rivulet " brings its contribution, desiring in its individual course to afford such benefits as it may, and to augment, however little, that stream which, that it may ever fertilise the Christian country and ever refresh its people, must be itself ever fed by new supplies. These Hymns for Heart and Voice are suitable for the chamber or the church, and they may be " said or sung." Some of them are obviously more the expression of united worship than V1 PREFACE. others. I have not separated these into a distinct group. They occupy what seemed to me suitable places in the general arrangement. Such hymns when read privately have often a peculiar charm : they connect us with those from whom we are parted, but with whom we are present in spirit ; they make us feel that in the fellowship of the truth lies much of the power of the truth. The book is, then, one of short Christian Poems, to peruse, as I hope, for stimulus and solace, or to sing in family and social communion. I shall be very glad and thankful, if in this case too, as in others, it be found true that " both is best." A Rivulet singing as it flows along Lulls us to rest, or thus invites a song : " New waters from the ancient fount I bring, That they who drink of me with me may sing." Thomas T. Lynch. Kentish Town, London, November, 1855. INDEX OF FIRST LINES. Above the dusky air . A bubble I would be, says one Again from mid-winter Ah, miserable man A little sunshine and a little talk All faded is the glowing light Aloft in the quietest air Amid the hills retired A mighty wind arose in air Another day may bring another mind Appear, O Thou, who very present art Arise, sad heart, arise in haste Arising, we sing . As one who for a letter waits As to a quiet valley . As we by successive stages As with sunny showers of song A thousand years have come and gone Behold, how mighty truth . Beneath the darkest, basest will . Be thy word with power fraught Bread art Thou, by thy coming down Breathe on us for the passing day Brethren, let us to the Lord Can a trustless thought intrude . Christ in his word draws near Close not, ye heavens, that opened were Come forth with twice-anointed feet . Creator, lover of the whole . 24 191 128 17 158 in 8 12 148 122 200 *Z7 184 169 103 73 57 126 112 131 105 189 96 23 49 19 37 136 181 Vlll INDEX OF FIRST LINES. Day is passing, night is nigh Departing in peace Dismiss me not thy service, Lord Fallen' from ancestral glory Father, what portion of thy goods Flowers will not cease to speak . Folded close the shadows are Forget not : can the mother's love From each dark branchlet of the trees Give Him brain and breast Giver of sleep, unsleeping Lord . God of the shining sun Gracious Spirit, dwell with me . Heart of Christ, O cup most golden Heart with heart, and hand in hand Help, holy Lord, against the league Here are we dark and weak, yet are we not He sat upon the mountain-side . How calmly the evening once more is descendin How can I sing ? How firmly they stand How holy and secure those angels kind How often on a morning bright . How sweet to me is life when shadows gray If love in any heart arise I give myself to prayer I have looked above me In silence mighty things are wrought In the fellowship of song . In the time of our youth In well-loved blue the heaven shines Irresolute, I stand perplext Is life a groping and a guess I travelled upwards to the stars . I walked on sands beside the sea Jesus, great friend of open speech Jordan, O thou crooked river INDEX OF FIRST LINES. IX King of darkness, King of light . Let children come .... Let us, with a wind-like song Lift up your heads, rejoice . Like one who blind sits rushes weaving Look up ; the rainy heavens withdraw Lord, all things everywhere Lord, break the deadly battle-blow Lord, how wonderful is man Lord, I on every day . Lord of that undistracted realm . Lord, oft the heavens of day and night Lord, on thy returning day- Lord, when in silent hours I muse Lord, why dost Thou thy love conceal Love me, O Lord, forgivingly Most high and patient God Mountains by the darkness hidden My faith, it is an oaken staff My hastening life admonishes My little flower, my little flower . My soul, humility her fears have taught her My work appointed I have done . Not afar from surf and wave Now have we met that we may ask PAGE 70 O baby, He loved pretty things . O, break my heart ; but break it as a O day of rest for busy men . Oft when of God we ask O God, our spirits unassisted O hand, O breath divine O holy ones, O watchers calm . O, is the heart too soon appeased O little one who art so great O Lord, Thou art not fickle O morning so bright . One blessing is there of the sun . One sat with angry heart alone . field INDEX OF FIRST LINES. One says, " The glow of life is over " O, rest awhile, but only for a while O, there are words lips often say O Thou, who by the meat and drink O Thou whose inmost name is Love Our heart is like a little pool O, were I ever what I am sometimes O, where is He that trod the sea O wondrous, weary years . Praying by the river-side Remember us who would aright . Rise ! He calleth thee, arise ! Say not, my soul, from whence . See, bannered armies hem . See multitudes surrounding See the tide as advancing it breaks on the See, through the heavenly arch . Shadows now are darker growing Since penalties so fearful Slow is the fall to winter dark . Sometimes God lights his temple up Speak not in the shaking thunder Spirit of beauty, thy presence confessing Spirit of sacred happiness . Spirit ! whose various energies . The apostle spake of judgment just The brooks that brim with showers The chrysalis in crannies lies The dewy flowers, more beautiful The glory of God from the way of the East The lengthening light leads on the year The Lord is rich and merciful There is purpose in this waste The sacred word, so fraught with use The sere leaf flickers down The soul's sweet summer is not here The sufferer had been heard to say The sun aloft, but not aloof The world was dark with care and woe hingl INDEX OF FIRST LINES. Thou shalt not doubt the King most high To-day they know not what they do . Together for our country now we pray Weak we are, although sincere . We come, but not with sighs alone We come to the place of our rest We use or waste the beams so bright . What ! is this the only rest ? What tears are these that flow so fast ? When Dorcas worked to clothe the poor When fragrantly towards the skies When happy Christian hope began When strength is shaken and I fail When the clouds so soft and tender . When the wind is blowing . Where is the stream, the happy stream Where is thy God, my soul ? While the law on stone is written While waiting for the summer sun Wisdom coming from above With feet of burning brass . With many a swift and crashing stroke Who will roll away the stone ? . Why stooped the Majesty on high ? . PAGE 37 135 170 97 170 81 155 l 33 132 164 190 120 28 /6 38 30 60 29 190 85 121 199 134 160 INDEX OF TITLES. PAGE Admonition . . . .192 Age 158 Angels 201 Anni Domini . . . .127 Another day . . . .122 Ardour 31 A reasoner without love 1 7 Ascension 144 Autumn 116 Baby 175 Before sermon . . . 105 Benediction .... 145 Be strong 38 Birth 186 Brightness 100 Cheerfulness .... 42 Christ in his word . . 19 Citizenship .... 61 Cloudless night ... 72 Comfort .... 15 Condescension . . . 147 Contrasts 99 Courage 27 Daybreak 18 PAGE Departure .... 118 Discontent . . . «7 Discretion .... S6 Divine Fire . 121 Dorcas 164 Doubt not ..... 37 Earth clothed anew. 7S Effort S8 Emmanuel 160 Evening .... 24 Evil as Usurper . . 70 Exhortation . 179 Expectation . in Exultation .... 193 Faith 6S Fellowship 81 Flowers I 40 Flowers II. Si Forget not. 194 Forgiving Love . H Foundations . Frailty 28 Freedom .... 116 Gleams • S7 INDEX OF TITLES. xm PAGE Glimpses 107 God our Home ... 46 God's Answers . . .106 Gone! 159 Hallelujah ! .... 21 Health 30 Heart of Christ ... 86 Heaven 184 Help is sure . . . .169 Holy Communion . .152 Hope 24 Inconstancy . . . .114 Infant Baptism . . .174 Intercession . . . .170 Jerusalem 94 Jordan 139 Judgment 143 Law 29 Let children come . .176 Life of our life ... 1 Loneliness 49 Marriage 173 Matins 181 Meditation . . . . 16 Midnight 54 Miracles 42 Morning 66 Neighbours .... 59 Night 53 Offerings 190 Old -and New .... 96 One Family. Eph. iii. 14, 15 202 Onward and Upward . 73 Panting after God . . 4 PAGE Patience 118 Patriotism 170 Penitence 135 Perplexity 26 Peter's Tears . . . .132 Pleading 200 Prayer 47 Prayer for a broken heart 10 Prayer for the Holy Spirit 65 Privacy. Mark i. 32 — 38 35 Progress 212 Protection 93 Quiet 103 Rain 180 Reaping 120 Recovery 33 Relief 9 Renewal 76 Replies 183 Repose 82 Rescue 149 Rest 74 Restoration .... 203 Resurrection . . . .157 Sabbath 68 Sacred Happiness . . 90 Scripture 20 Serenity 14 Service 2 Shadows 101 Showers of Song . . 57 Signs 198 Silence no Sin overcome . . . .131 Singing 80 Sleep 196 Songs 41 XIV INDEX OF TITLES. Sorrow ended Spirit of Beauty Spring . . Stars Success. . Succour Sustenance Sympathy . PAGE . 137 . 102 . 51 . 34 • 89 . 6 • 79 . 187 Tempest . Testimonies The Bread of Life The Child. Isa. ix. 6. The Coming Summer The Fount of Life The Good News . The Heavens . The New Year . The Prize . . . The Risen Lord . The Softened Heart . The Son of the Highest. Luke i. 32 . The Sower .... The Spices .... The Stone 134 The Stream of Love . 12 . 199 . 163 . 189 • 123 • H5 . 83 . 126 . 40 . 128 . 191 . 141 125 178 135 PAGE The Sun 151 The Tomb . . . .133 The Two Crowns . .136 The Wanderer . . .166 Thoroughness . . .161 To arms ! 23 Triumph 140 Unbelief 155 Unbelief forbidden . .108 Victory 55 Voices in Nature . . 7 Waiting 190 Walking by the Sea . 71 War 44 Waves 177 Weak though sincere . 97 Week-day 69 Where is thy God ? . . 60 Winds 148 Winter 84 Wisdom 85 Work 91 Zeal 11 that, partaker of that sweet content Which all who in thy love believe have known, 1 may the primal blessing Thou hast sent, The dove-like peace enjoy, which from thy throne Forth-issuing visits every trusting heart, To give to it the sign of that communion In which the great and small alike have part, Knowing each other in the same high union Of heart to Thee, the first, the universal, The great, the hidden one, yet the revealed ; Then here my song shall be a true rehearsal Of melodies which heavenly voices yield, That celebrate the good of everything "Which round about with various appealing Offers thy love, Thou all-providing King, Its ever growing gift each day revealing. O, come, let us sing unto the Lord.' HYMNS FOR HEART AND VOICE. I. LIFE OF OUR LIFE. Spirit ! whose various energies By dew and flame denoted are, By rain from the world-covering skies, By rushing and by whispering air; Be Thou to us, O gentlest one, The brimful river of sweet peace, Sunshine of the celestial sun, Restoring air of sacred ease. Life of our life, since life of Him By whom we live eternally, Our heart is faint, our eye is dim, Till Thou our spirit purify. The purest airs are strongest too, Strong to enliven and to heal : O Spirit purer than the dew, Thine holiness in strength reveal. 2 HYMNS FOR HEART AND VOICE. Felt art Thou, and the heavy heart Grows cheerful and makes bright the eyes \ Up from the dust the enfeebled start, Armed and re-nerved for victories : Felt art Thou, and relieving tears Fall, nourishing our young resolves : Felt art Thou, and our icy fears The sunny smile of love dissolves. O Spirit, when thy mighty wind The entombing rocks of sin hath rent, Lead shuddering forth the awakened mind, In still voice whispering thine intent. As to the sacred light of day The stranger soul shall trembling come, Say, " These thy friends," and " This thy way," And " Yonder thy celestial home." II. SERVICE. Dismiss me not thy service, Lord, But train me for thy will ; For even I in fields so broad Some duties may fulfil ; And I will ask for no reward, Except to serve Thee still. HYMNS FOR HEART AND VOICE. 3 How many serve, how many more May to the service come ; To tend the vines, the grapes to store, Thou dost appoint for some : Thou hast thy young men at the war, Thy little ones at home. All works are good, and each is best As most it pleases Thee; Each worker pleases when the rest He serves in charity : And neither man nor work unblest Wilt thou permit to be. O ye who serve, remember One The worker's way who trod ; He served as man, but now his throne, It is the throne of God : The sceptre He hath to us shown Is like a blossoming rod. Firm fibres of the tree of life Hath each command of his, And each with clustering blossoms rife At every season is ; Bare only, like a sword of strife, Against love's enemies. 4 HYMNS FOR HEART AND VOICE. Our Master all the work hath done He asks of us to-day ; Sharing his service, every one Share too his sonship may. Lord, I would serve and be a son ; Dismiss me not, I pray. III. PANTING AFTER GOD. I have looked above me, Saying as I stood, " Shall I ever love Thee Even as I would ? " Hands together clasping, Prayer to Thee I urge ; Like a swimmer gasping In the ocean surge. I for love endeavour As for breath of life ; Must I seek it ever With a painful strife ? I on waves of thinking Foothold cannot keep • Downward am I sinking, Over me they sweep. HYMNS FOR HEART AND VOICE. 5 Lord, Thou art above me, Silent and serene; Surely I could love Thee, If I once had seen Christ as Saviour ready Fearful hearts to save ; Giving footsteps steady Even on the wave. Is He coming near me ? Will He by me stand ? Will He speak and cheer me, Take me by the hand ? May the humble-minded See Him on his way, Though the proud are blinded By the fretful spray ? O, if I but know Thee In thy human form ; O, if Thou but show me Jesus in the storm ; Perils never counting, In love's air I'll breathe j Hugest doubts surmounting, Though they cry and seethe. 6 HYMNS FOR HEART AND VOICE. IV. SUCCOUR. The sufferer had beeri heard to say, " I am the unhappiest in the land ;" But comforted went on his way, When Jesus took him by the hand. The poor man had been oft passed by By many people rich and grand ; But found at last prosperity, When Jesus took him by the hand. The sinner in unpitied blame Was perishing, an outcast banned ; But rose, and left behind his shame, When Jesus took him by the hand. And many of whom all men said, " They've fallen never more to stand," Have risen, though they seemed as dead, When Jesus took them by the hand. O ye, who in the journey's length Must often tread the weary sand, Your fainting limbs will gather strength, If Jesus takes you by the hand. " Come unto me," the Saviour cries, Nor speaks in accents falsely bland : " Hard is the way," He says, " but rise : " And then He takes us by the hand. HYMNS FOR HEART AND VOICE. 7 VOICES IN NATURE. Flowers will not cease to speak, And tell the praise of God> Even to the careless man Who has upon them trod : Rising suns and falling rain Will not refuse their gift to yield, Though of our neglect complain The garden and the field : Birds will not refuse to sing The summer woods among, Though we to their God and ours No song have ever sung : Heaven will not at once grow dim, Because unhonoured by a look; Nor the temple close on him Who worship has forsook. Whether we are thine or no, Thy mercies, Lord, are ours ; And thy choicest works and words Still breathe on us their powers ; They, by victory of love, Can move the hardened to relent They have voices from above, To call us upward sent. 8 HYMNS FOR HEART AND VOICE. VI. THE SOFTENED HEART. Aloft in the quietest air Serenely the cloudlets repose ; The God who has made them so fair, His love in their loveliness shows. It rests us to look on their calm ; Their softness can soften our heart; Our hurry, distress, and alarm, They silently tell to depart. Like raiment of angels they shine ; No fingers such robes ever spun ; Their texture so airily fine Is dyed in the hues of the sun : Such garments for souls may be had, On us the like glory appear ; In gentleness may we be clad, And rectitude winningly clear. The light of religion, that flows From robes that our spirits desire, Is warm, though as white as the snows. And mild, though as ruddy as fire. Lord, clothe us in sanctity bright ; Let love with its zest and its zeal Be mingling the red and the white, And Christ in our aspect reveal. HYMNS FOR HEART AND VOICE. 9 VII. RELIEF. Say not, my soul, " From whence Can God relieve my care ? " Remember that Omnipotence Has servants everywhere : But if as weak and poor Thou seekest charity, Christ may come knocking at thy door, And ask relief of thee. He comes as truth denied, Comes as a wounded heart ; Sees if with courage well supplied And kindliness thou art. Will He an alms receive ? Then never doubt and fret ; Is He less able to relieve, More likely to forget ? God's help is always sure, His methods seldom guessed ; Delay will make our pleasure pure, Surprise will give it zest : His wisdom is sublime, His heart profoundly kind ; God never is before his time, And never is behind. io HYMNS FOR HEART AND VOICE, Hast thou assumed a load Which few will share with thee, And art thou carrying it for God, And shall He fail to see ? Be comforted at heart, Thou art not left alone : Now thou the Lord's companion art ; Soon thou wilt share his throne. VIII. PRAYER FOR A BROKEN HEART. O, break my heart ; but break it as a field Is by the plough up-broken for the corn : O, break it as the buds, by green leaf sealed, Are, to unloose the golden blossom, torn : Love would I offer unto love's great Master, Set free the odour, break the alabaster. O, break my heart ; break it, victorious God, That life's eternal well may flash abroad : O, let it break as when the captive trees, Breaking cold bonds, regain their liberties : And as thought's sacred grove to life is springing, Be joys, like birds, their hope thy victory singing. HYMNS FOR HEART AND VOICE, n IX. ZEAL. My hastening life admonishes My often-faltering soul to try And yet perform some goodly work, Ere, with the years, desires fly. What, in a world where cries for help Must ever sound till sin shall cease, Can be a goodlier work than this, — Griefs to assuage, and joys increase? To fill with light some sunken eyes Where reason struggles with despair : To bring sin's pallid prisoners forth Into the free and wholesome air : To cheer the oppressed with righteous words, And aid them with a labouring arm : The slaves of tyrant ignorance To rescue, and then shield, from harm : To offer cups of water pure From rocky truth's cool, plenteous well, To souls confused with feverish woes Unspoken and unspeakable : To set ablaze some signal-fire Of zealous thought, till in affright The careless slumberers start and rise, And rally round the true and right. i2 HYMNS FOR HEART AND VOICE Let me remeditate the truth, That Christ did for and with us bleed, Then, " He is good that doeth good," Shall be my dear and honoured creed. O, if no partner in the pains By which love labours for my race, Death, that takes home and crowns the brave, Can but insure my long disgrace. X. THE STREAM OF LOVE. Amid the hills retired A fount began its flow, And riches soon acquired To bless the lands below ; And though its wealth it freely spent, It grew the richer as it went. For solitary hills, From stores of rain and snow, Contributed new rills. Their sympathy to show ; And soon the river on the plains As monarch of their plenty reigns. Our God in hours retired Can open in our heart HYMNS FOR HEART AND VOICE. 13 A fount of good desired, And such supplies impart, That more it has, the more it gives, And all our life upon it lives. O sacred stream of love, Hast thou begun thy flow, And from the hills above Reached now the lands below ? Then, blessed by thee, life's common field Will corn and fruit and herbage yield. XL FORGIVING LOVE. Love me, O Lord, forgivingly, O, ever be my friend \ And still, when Thou reprovest me, Reproof with pity blend. O, pity me when weak I fall ; And as with saddened eyes I upwards look, O, let thy call Come strengthening me to rise. My sins, dispersed by mercy bright, Like clouds again grow black ; O, change the winds that bring such night, And drive the darkness back. H HYMNS FOR HEART AND VOICE. This striving weather, let it cease ; Then fervent, fruitful days Shall yield both promise and increase, And make my growth thy praise. XII. SERENITY. Look up ; the rainy heavens withdraw, Light flows anew at ebb of day ; Look, and believe the gracious law, That love shall have the final sway. The grass is of a perfect green, Dappled with shades this pleasant hour ; The garden-walk is crisp and clean; Wind shakes the tears from bough and flower. Its finest life is in the air, Its finest lustre in the light ; And see ! the drifting clouds of care Are touched with glory in their flight. In such an hour is understood The sacred mystery of woe ; We feel a life divinely good Within us rise, around us flow : HYMNS FOR HEART AND VOICE. 15 A spirit tranquil as of one Who finds in happy languor rest, Sore wearied with his work well done, But through well-doing richly blest : A spirit as of one who broods On sorrows ceased but unforgot ; Whose heart, like heaven, the rainiest moods Leave softer, and without a blot. Come, holy peace, when evening's flame Burns in the west intensely still, Come, kindling salutary shame For half-won good, half-vanquished ill. XIII. COMFORT. O, is the heart too soon appeased, O, is its pain too lightly eased, When, though the sun with stinted ray Has been but glimmering all the day, One last brief gush of glory bright Can fill and flood it with delight ? No ; to the heart this beam so brief Pledges, as well as brings, relief; Light from serene eternity Now flushes promise through the sky, 1 6 HYMNS FOR HEART AND VOICE. That thus shall life, its dark day spent, End in an ocean of content. When once our cloudy course has run, The long-obscured but waiting sun In morning might and evening peace Shall shine, and as our labours cease, Our craving spirits fully bless With quick, triumphant happiness. O glorious truth ! and is it true For me, my Lord, whose hopes are few, Whose chiefest grief and fault it is That proffered hopes he makes not his ? One sunny gush of comfort give ; O, say again, " Believe, and live." XIV. MEDITATION. Lord, when in silent hours I muse Upon myself and Thee, I seem to hear the stream of life That runs invisibly. Then know I, what I oft forget, How fleeting are my days ; Remember me, my God, nor let My end be my dispraise. HYMNS FOR HEART AND VOICE. O, think upon me for my good, Though little good I do ; My hope, and my forgiving friend, Thou hast been hitherto. And I would live in such a course, That men to me may say, " O, whence hast thou thy joy and force, What is thy secret stay ? " My joy, when truest joy I have, It comes to me from heaven ; My strength, when I from weakness rise, Is by thy Spirit given. And while He shines as He has shone Whom Thou hast made my stay, Life can but gently float me on, Not hurry me away. XV. A REASONER WITHOUT LOVE. Ah, miserable man, What feeble taper light Is this, which casts its spectral gleam Into the murky night? 1 8 HYMNS FOR HEART AND VOICE. A reasoner without love, Thy quivering ray forlorn Can show the strange and fearful night, But never bring the dawn. Lord, in our musing heart If Thou reveal thy Son, Upward the growing twilight strikes, The morning has begun. The orb of love appears, Night and its dreams are o'er ; In such a light need never man Be miserable more. XVI. DA YBREAK. Rise ! He calleth thee, arise ! Come, O sorrow-blinded man ; He who lighted first the eyes, Only He relight them can. Come, and see the face of one Who familiar was with grief; Now it shineth as the sun ; In his smile is thy relief. HYMNS FOR HEART AND VOICE. 19 Rise ! He calleth thee, arise ! Prisoner of an inward night \ Sin destroyeth earth and skies, If it quench the fount of light. Come, of daybreak 'tis the hour When thou seest Christ the Lord; See Him, and regain the power Both to look and walk abroad. XVII. CHRIST IN HIS WORD. Christ in his word draws near ; Hush, moaning voice of fear, He bids thee cease : With songs sincere and sweet Let us arise, and meet Him who comes forth to greet Our souls with peace. Rising above thy care, Meet Him as in the air, O weary heart : Put on joy's sacred dress, Lo, as He comes to bless, Quite from thy weariness Set free thou art. 20 HYMNS FOR HEART AND VOICE, For works of love and praise He brings thee summer days, Warm days and bright : Winter is past and gone, Now He, salvation's sun, Shineth on every one With mercy's light. From the bright sky above, Clad in his robes of love, Tis He, our Lord : Dim earth itself grows clear As his light draweth near : O, let us hush and hear His holy word. XVIII. SCRIPTURE. The sacred word, so fraught with use, Is bright with beauty too, Oft startling us like blooms profuse Upon a sudden view. But more amazing than the bloom Which all the tree bestuds, See, peering from the leafy gloom, A hundred thousand buds. HYMNS FOR HEART AND VOICE. 21 O, bud for ever, glorious tree, 0, ever blossom thus ; So shall thy good fruits plenteously Hang ripening for us. XIX. HALLELUJAH ! Lord, all things everywhere Thy mighty praise declare ; Some may muse, and some may sing, But they all are worshipping : Or by silence or by sound Thou art praised the world around. Ever the circling earth Gives night and morning birth ; Every moment some place knows Work returning or repose ; Some things wake, and some things rest But by all thy love is blest. The stormy seas and calm Join in a giant psalm, Solemn praises unto Thee Sounding forth unceasingly : Verses loud and verses low Equally thy glory show. 22 HYMNS FOR HEART AND VOICE. The rooted mountains grand All reverently stand, And by silent awe express Lowly-hearted loftiness ; Sometimes veiled, and sometimes bare, Now for praises, now for prayer. How doth the ample sky Shine with thy majesty ! Sun and stars in every clime Keep their course and change their time \ And by sunshine or by shower Thou art honoured every hour. Still with unchanging plan Thou blessest wayward man, And the varying hours prove That Thou hast unvarying love : Sometimes grieved and sometimes gay, We would trust Thee every day. Lord, shall sin work Thee shame, To cloud thy glorious Name ? No, Thou art so good and just, Sin and sorrow serve Thee must : While they last and when they die, Thou art hope, Thou victory. The cross and sepulchre On love the crown confer ; HYMNS FOR HEART AND VOICE. 23 Suffering has vanquished pain, Dying has made death a gain : Wicked hands but wrought their deed, That a Saviour might succeed. XX. TO ARMS ! Brethren, let us to the Lord Give ourselves, both heart and sword ; Under his commanding eye We shall march to victory. Hark, the strains of music roll, Like a tide they fill the soul ; As they to their highest rise, We will launch our enterprise. Ye who 'list must 'list in faith, Fearing neither toil nor scath ; Calm mid the bewildering cry, Confident of victory. Hark, the music loud and sweet Thrills our heart and stirs our feet : Brethren, hands upon our swords, Let us shout, " We are the Lord's ! " 24 HYMNS FOR HEART AND VOICE. XXI. EVENING. How calmly the evening once more is descending, As kind as a promise, as still as a prayer ; O wing of the Lord, in thy shelter befriending May we and our households continue to share ! The sky, like the kingdom of heaven, is open ; O, enter, my soul, at the glorious gates ; The silence and smile of his love are the token, Who now for all comers invitingly waits. We come to be soothed with his merciful healing, The dews of the night cure the wounds of the day; We come, our life's worth and its brevity feeling, With thanks for the past, for the future we pray. Lord, save us from folly ; be with us in sorrow; Sustain us in work till the time of our rest ; When earth's day is over, may heaven's to-morrow Dawn on us, of homes long expected possest. XXII. HOPE. Above the dusky air Shine the bright steps of hope ; And I, though from the lowest stair, Would mount to heaven's cope. HFMXS FOR HEART AND VOICE. 2; Thus yearning, I arise, But heavily I move : Alas that, with such wistful eyes, My limbs so feeble prove ! O thou essential Light, How can I climb to Thee ? The starry way is infinite — My hope is vanity. Ah, glorious vanity ! It is as if the sun Were quenched in waves, as from the sea His upward course begun. But can the morning fail, Though dawn be dark and wild ? Rejoice, O soul, thou shalt prevail ; Of light thou art the child. So shall thy hope be made Thy strength, if it be bright ; Thy limbs, so heavy in the shade, Grow lighter in the light. 26 HYMNS FOR HEART AND VOICE. XXIII. PERPLEXITY. Irresolute, I stand perplext, What pathway shall I follow next ? Show me the way that I must take ; Show me, O Lord, for Jesus' sake. He is the upward way for all, Upon whose steep ascents there fall Sweet lustres from the gates above, The ever-open gates of love. I know Him : but when thus I stay, And musing loiter time away, A shadow dims that sacred light Which shines to guide from height to height. Unless some earthly way I take, I cannot heavenward progress make ; With settled aim and conscience clear, What shall I do ? how journey here ? My soul the untried seas would dare, Or sands of every way-mark bare, Should but thy voice distinctly say, "Go forward, soul; there lies thy way." Say, " This thou must do : " such behest Can make the darkest path the best: If but I know my way through time, My soul those sunny steeps can climb. HYMNS FOR HEART AND VOICE. 27 XXIV. COURAGE. Speak not in the shaking thunder, Shine not in the lightning's blaze ; Mercy's heaven we still are under, O thou God of wise delays : Mercy's angels still attend us, Breathing helpful winds from Thee; Save us from the surge tremendous Of destruction's angry sea. Fill us with the love, outcasting Murmur, fearfulness, and sleep : Towards the city everlasting, Night and day across the deep, With a steady will unswerving, Ship-like may we onward press, Buoyant mastery preserving O'er the watery wilderness. Then if winds, their trumpets blowing, Summon all the waves to rise, Faith to her perfection growing, Mid her w r restling agonies, Thus shall cry, " O Father, hearken ; Thou hast saved, and still wilt save ; Love has bid this tempest darken, Love would have his children brave.'' 28 HYMNS FOR HEART AND VOICE. Storms shall but our heart embolden ; Sweet returns the assuring sun; Under heavens calm and golden Peacefully we prosper on ; Wrecking judgments never fearing, Now with heart unmutinous, Under orders, we are n earing Homes God has prepared for us. XXV. FRAILTY. When strength is shaken and I fail, My pain subduing me, I see the trembling of the vail That hides eternity : The unlifted curtain only shakes, But this the future present makes. How near, how real, the hidden scene ! Disclosure soon may come ; Only a curtain lies between Me and my final home : My home ! ah, till I so can say, My God, permit me here to stay. O, who would wish to enter fresh Earth's dark and troubled land ? What if a world behind the flesh Yet worse than earth there stand ! HYMNS FOR HEART AND VOICE. 29 Lord, of a better world we sing; Thither Thou wouldst our spirits bring. Like glimmers of the light of heaven That struggle through the vail, Let truth be felt, and joy be given, In hours when we are frail : Love can our spirits tranquillise, Whether the curtain shake or rise. XXVI. LAW. While the law on stone is written, Stone-like is the mighty word ; We with chilling awe are smitten, Though the word is thine, O Lord. Firm it is as mountains old, As their snowy summits cold. Stone-like, too, on each offender Broken laws may heavy fall, And with crushing vengeance render One a terror unto all : Struck themselves, in enmity, Ireful sparks may from them fly. Lord, Thou hast the law re-written, Where we may untrembling read We with tender awe are smitten, As we see the Saviour bleed, — 3 o HYMNS FOR HEART AND VOICE. Bleed in his obedient love, Hope and zeal in us to move. From his heart the law is shining, Heart-like is its every word \ We who in the cold were pining, Of the sunny warmth have heard : From the rocks we feared would crush At his touch sweet waters gush. Honoured be the name of Jesus, Who for us obedient stood ; Faith in Him from fear will ease us, Love to Him will make us good : When the law in love is shown, Hearts we have instead of stone. XXVII. HEALTH. " Where is the stream, the happy stream, To rid me of distempering heat ; To lave me in its running strength, And give my heart a moderate beat ?" Streams not the wind, the breezy wind, In sunny currents by thy side ? The morning and the evening air, O, hast thou, and yet vainly, tried ? HYMNS FOR HEART AND VOICE. 31 God bathes thee when heart-soothing air Ripples around thee easingly ; Then gently comes the grateful wish Yet to be his well-pleasingly. Yet to be his, and ever his, The wistful heart in worship yearns ; When lighter grows the load of life, And injured happiness returns. Inert in the sepulchral gloom Of dusky, spirit-palsying care, Why shouldst thou lie, when liberal love Awaits thee in the open air ? Chained as thou art, thyself drag forth, Fevered and fettered, to the breeze : Thy chains shall fall, thy heats subside, And the stream cleanse thee as it frees. XXVIII. ARDOUR, In the time of our youth What a glory of truth May encircle our brow as we muse ! Never darksome the day ; For, go whither we may, We can brighten the light as we choose. 32 HYMNS FOR HEART AND VOICE. So intense and devout, We are never without Something great to be hoped for or done; And are ready to bleed, If we may but succeed, And the battle for justice be won. But this zeal may decay, And our light fade away, And the heart may grow misty and cold ; And the man at full age Be too wise to engage In a battle, excepting for gold. What ! is all thou hast done, Flash thy sword in the sun, And declare what thou one day wouldst do ? Hadst thou rather now see All the world serving thee Than by suffering serve God with the few ? Love's tower looked so high, Seen by fancy's bright eye, What a glorious structure to build ! But the cost proved too vast, And the labour must last All thy life : so thine ardour was chilled. Saviour ! who for the truth, At the close of thy youth, Camest forth, and didst wondrously fight ; HYMNS FOR HEART AXD VOICE. 33 Thou canst give what was thine, Love and ardour divine : O, renew us our youth with its light! XXIX. RECOVERY. One says, " The glow of life is over, The summer days are past ; The air no more is sweet with clover, Bitter is every blast." Another says, " I too was fearful, And thought the summer gone \ But now am comforted and cheerful, Again the sun hath shone : The sun hath shone, and now is shining, And, O, the subtle air — A solace and a spur combining — With marvellous repair Rebuilds my heart, that time had wasted, And all my hopes re-swell, As if, when God began, He hasted To make our sickness well." O, though for us is no returning Upon our former track, The hopes for which our heart is yearning Are ever coming back : D 34 HYMNS FOR HEART AND VOICE, Deep inward thrills break up inaction, And power we regain, When by our Maker's benefaction Comes sunshine after rain. XXX. STARS. See ! through the heavenly arch With silent, stately march The starry ranks for ever sweep ; In graduate scale of might They all are sons of light, And all their times and orders keep. O glorious, countless host, Which shall I praise the most ? Your lustrous groups, or course exact? Ye on your way sublime Defy confusing time Your light to dim, your path distract. Earth's early fathers saw The gospel and the law In the firm beauty of the skies : O thou unswerving Will, The unveiled heavens still Show Thee as glorious, good, and wise. HYMNS FOR HEART AND VOICE. 35 Lord of the starry night, With awe and with delight Under thy temple dome we pray : Still as we gaze above, Temper our fear with love, That we may filial homage pay. Not as the primal force Impelling nature's course, We know Thee, but as Father dear : O, if with foolish mind We judge Thee weakly kind, Correct false love with filial fear. XXXI. PRIVA CY. Mark i. 3 2—38. Folded close the shadows are, And no disappearing star Tells of morn, still distant far, Coming slowly on. On his dusk and silent way, Hark, the Lord goes forth to pray ! He whose mercies yesterday On the city shone. Homes where late was sore distress Now unusual slumbers bless ; Tired with very happiness Hush'd the sleepers lie. 36 HYMNS FOR HEART AXD VOICE. He for strength must go alone, See the sun ascend his throne, Feel that symbol of his own Glorious victory. Loneliness to Him is rest, In his deep and open breast Then arise those fountains blest By which earth is healed. Now the day is bright and broad, Crossing the still dewy sward Strong to do the work of God, Lo, He stands revealed ! Coming from communings sweet With his Father, see Him meet The inquiring throng, and greet All with wisest love. " Day advances ; we must reach Other cities, there to teach; Far and wide good news to preach Came I from above." HYMNS FOR HEART AXD VOICE. 37 XXXII. GLEAMS. Close not, ye heavens, that opened were, And shone with such a gladdening light : 'Twas hard the unbroken dark to bear, But harder still re-gathering night. O, shine with an abiding smile ; Alone in your unspoken love Have I sufficient solace while I struggle towards my home above. Must smiles be brief? Then let there burn A light by fresh ones in my heart Kindled and fed, till darkness turn To day that never can depart. XXXIII. DOUBT NOT. Thou shalt not doubt the King most high, Whose glory is creation's good ; Sunlike his beams of majesty The storming ages have withstood. The pillars of eternal right Who from their rocky hold can wrench ? The flame of the eternal light What gloom can hide, what wind can quench? HFMNS FOR HEART AND VOICE. Thou shalt not doubt the awful King ; Glory is his, but terror too ; The rebel storms their homage bring, And bow their pride his will to do. If darkness is his judgment-dress, His sunny robes He will resume ; Unfailing He returns to bless, Like daybreak from the midnight's tomb. Thou shalt not doubt eternal God ; Mercy upholds his stately throne ; He wins creation's heart by blood ; Our blood it is, and yet his own. O solemn and consoling sign ! Wilt thou be saved ? He save thee will. Thy blood was his ; then his is thine ; He in thee will thine hope fulfil. XXXIV. BE STRONG. When the wind is blowing, Do not shrink and cower ; Firmly onward going, Feel the joy of power : Heaviest the heart is In a heavy air ; Every wind that rises Blows away despair. HYMNS FOR HEART AND VOICE. 39 With the waves contending, See, the ships prevail. Winning aid befriending From the adverse gale. Thus the way contesting Souls must hold their course, Thus a blessing wresting From each hostile force. When the darts but rattle On the coward's shield, He will quit the battle, Sword and self will yield : From the fear of failing Shall we cease to pray ? On the foe's assailing Throw the shield away ? Hopeless, and yet winning, Thou wilt wiser be, Wit's end the beginning Of new faith in thee : Foes, and winds, and weather To confront resolve : Faith and skill together Hardest problems solve. 40 HYMNS FOR HEART AND VOICE. XXXV. THE HEAVENS. Lord, oft the heavens of day and night, Shining as if to sanctify, Seem so pathetically bright, I breathe a spiritual sigh. The sigh of one who in unrest A moment shares the peace above ; The sigh of one who has been blest, And gently feels upbraiding love. The sigh of one who, worn with strife, Has careless grown to further harm ; But, touched with former, happier life, Yearns now for an eternal calm. Self-blamed, self-pitying, my heart Sighing suspects a sad reverse : With joy I chose the better part; Can I have left it for the worse ? O, were I good as ye are bright, Ye heavens, that proffer sympathy ; And steadfast as your stars of light, Whose kingly look oft pierces me ! Lord, it is for that life I sigh Whose utmost glories are afar ; Oft trembling, when I feel it nigh, Lest sin and care my hope should mar. HYMNS FOR HEART AND VOICE. 4.1 XXXVI. SONGS. Let us, with a wind-like song Freshen all the air of life ; Singing makes the weak heart strong, Now to win seems worth the strife ; Songs to Him who is our light Will disperse each cloudy fear ; Songs to Him who is our might Will the wavering onward cheer. Let us sing the solemn praise Of that blessed Potentate, Who with life's eternal blaze Does the heavens irradiate : He for ever, only He, Has a throne all thrones above ; Name his realm Immensity, Name the mighty ruler Love. Songs to Thee, O mighty Love, Have a sound like coming rain, Whose abundance soon shall prove Thou hast heard our souls complain. O, forgive our murmurings, Lord ; Think but of our thirsty hours; From the bright clouds of thy word Let us now have balmy showers. 42 HYMNS FOR HEART AND VOICE. XXXVII. CHEERFULNESS. The brooks that brim with showers And sparkle on their way, Will freshen and will feed the flowers ; Thus working while they play. Nor will our hearts do less, If happily we live ; For cheerfulness is usefulness, — The life we have we give. Truth is a sacred rain, Our hearts but scanty rills, Which higher power and pleasure gain As truth the current fills. If freely we receive, We freely will bestow ; And tokens of our passage leave Where'er we shine and flow. XXXVIII. MIRACLES. O, where is He that trod the sea, O, where is He that spake, — And demons from their victims flee, The dead their slumbers break ; HYMNS FOR HEART AND VOICE. 43 The palsied rise in freedom strong, The dumb men talk and sing, And from blind eyes, benighted long, Bright beams of morning spring. O, where is He that trod the sea, O, where is He that spake, — And piercing words of liberty The deaf ears open shake ; And mildest words arrest the haste Of fever's deadly fire, And strong ones heal the weak who waste Their life in sad desire. O, where is He that trod the sea, O, where is He that spake, — And dark waves, rolling heavily, A glassy smoothness take \ And lepers, whose own flesh has been A solitary grave, See with amaze that they are clean, And cry, " 'Tis He can save !" O, where is He that trod the sea, — 'Tis only He can save ; To thousands hungering wearily A wondrous meal He gave : Full soon, celestially fed, Their rustic fare they take \ 44- HYMNS FOR HEART AND VOICE. Twas springtide when He blest the bread, And harvest when He brake. O, where is He that trod the sea, — My soul ! the Lord is here : Let all thy fears be hushed in thee ; To leap, to look, to hear, Be thine : thy needs He'll satisfy : Art thou diseased, or dumb ? Or dost thou in thine hunger cry ? " I come," saith Christ; " I come." XXXIX. WAR. Lord, break the deadly battle-bow, Unfold the glorious bow of peace, And by that sign of mercy show That war so merciless shall cease. Lord, shut the cannon's gloomy mouth, For ever hush its thundering tongue ; The risen sun must reach the south, The songs of peace must yet be sung. Fair peace shall be to truth at last, Whose love for her no trouble quells, Wedded indissolubly fast, And earth shall hear the marriage-bells. HYMNS FOR HEART AXD VOICE. 45 Yet, Lord, who wilt most surely hush The maddened world into a calm, The mighty floods that whirl and rush Have wrought us good, amid their harm. Thy judgment was a mercy then, When Thou didst purify the world, And wicked works and wicked men One flood to common ruin hurled. And often by confusions vast Hast Thou prepared thy blessings best ; Yet, Lord, how long ? O, for the last Great strife, and then the final rest ! Come, thou Redeemer, whom we trust ; Come, Jesus, gentle, though severe : This have we learned, — we must be just, Then Thou wilt make thy peace appear. Saviour, when thy bright love is shed On earth's innumerable tears, Mercy's broad bow shall be outspread, The hope of sweet millennial years. 46 HYMNS FOR HEART AND VOICE. XL. GOD OUR HOME. Is life a groping and a guess, A vain cry in a wilderness, No light of home at distance seen ? And do our hearts like fallen trees Drift down the rivers to the seas, Though hope hath once exalted been ? We are not driftwood on the wave ; But like the ships, that tempests brave, Our hearts upon their voyage stand : We utter no unheeded cry, " Where is my God ? " Lo, He is nigh, And says, "Take, child, thy Father's hand." Must they who seek for wisdom be Like mariners on a shoreless sea, Still circling round the water-world ; At last, exhausting heart and store, To spring a leak, and, seen no more, To sink, though still with sail unfurled ? His soul a haven found for rest Who leaned upon his Saviour's breast — An island mid the waters' foam : But once at rest, lo, soon we are At sea again, and Christ our star, And God our final port and home. HYMNS FOR HEART AND VOICE. 47 XLI. PRAYER. I give myself to prayer; Lord, give Thyself to me, And let the time of my request Thy time of answer be. My thoughts are like the reeds, And tremble as they grow, In the sad current of a life That darkly runs and slow. No song is in the air, But one pervading fear ; Death's shadow dims my light, and Death Himself is lurking near. I am as if asleep, Yet conscious that I dream ; Like one who vainly strives to wake And free himself, I seem. The loud distressful cry With which I call on Thee, Shall wake me, Lord, to find that Thou Canst give me liberty. 4 8 HYMNS FOR HEART AND VOICE, O, break this darksome spell, This murky sadness strange ; Let me the terrors of the night For cheerful day exchange. Freshen the air with wind, Comfort my heart with song \ Let thoughts be lilies pure, and life A river bright and strong. Save me from subtle Death, Who, serpent-like, by fear Palsies me for escape, yet draws His trembling victim near. I give myself to prayer ; Lord, give Thyself to me ; And in the time of my distress, O, haste and succour me. Then be my heart, my world, Re-hallowed unto Thee, And thy pervading glory, Lord, O, let me feel and see. HYMNS FOR HEART AND VOICE. 49 XLII. LONELINESS. Lord, why dost Thou thy love conceal, And why so long a silence keep ? When souls by Thee forsaken feel, Childlike, they tremble and they weep ; Or stand in mute and tearless woe Like crosses, which their victims leave, And which no more the sufferer show, But tell of grief, yet do not grieve. Lord, when darkest grows the hour, And loneliest feels the childlike heart, Then show Thyself in sudden power To be the Father that Thou art. And when the rigid heart but seems A monument of former woe, Reveal love's meaning in extremes, And crosses trees of life shall grow. XLIII. FLOWERS.— I. Can a trustless thought intrude, While I stand in gratitude Looking at you, O sweet flowers, Prophets still of happy hours ? 5 o HYMNS FOR HEART AND VOICE. True it is I gaze and sigh, So uncouth and darksome I ; But I should not love you so, Could I not more lovely grow. Though it may not yet be seen What ye severally mean, As by alphabetic speech Though ye can no wisdom teach ; Yet ye seem to sing a strain Into joy converting pain ; And our creeping thoughts arise Winged for sunny ecstasies. O, what forms and tints have ye, Nature's living jewelry ; And though each of beauty rare, Yet how plentiful ye are ! Happy are the pure, whose heart Freely blooms in every part \ Godly acts are living gems, Fit for crowns and diadems. HYMNS FOR HEART AND VOICE. 51 XLIV. FLOWERS— II. The dewy flowers, more beautiful For tears upon their open face, Gaze on us as from hearts brimful Of tender pity for our case. Pitying they look, and yet as sure That not without good hope we are ; Will we not patiently endure ? Help cannot now be distant far. Help is not far, ye tender flowers, Whose beauty must so soon be past; For God hath gifted you with powers To help us while your blossoms last. Help while they last ? O, yes, and when Their colour fades, their leaflets dry, Remembering ye must bloom again, Help have we in that memory. XLV. SPRING. The lengthening light leads on the year From flushing spring towards autumn sere, And all the marvels have begun That wait upon the strengthening sun : And spring has of those plants the power Whose earliest blades enclose a flower. 52 HYMNS FOR HEART AND VOICE. Now brighter hues and clearer light Are later lingering every night. Sing, heart ! with an adoring sense Of nature's new magnificence : O, look not on the glowing sky Without a childlike ecstasy. Spring so with strength her sweetness blends, Our heart its wintry covering rends : We have been, may we yet be, glad ? May former vantage still be had ; Have we this year another prime, To countervail our misused time ? Now earth seems by the heavens above Bewept with wonderment and love : O heaven, thy prodigal embrace, Show him the old maternal face ; Thy love, unlost ! his fear relieves, At his own happiness he grieves. My God, in nature I confess A beauty fraught with holiness ; Love-written, plainly I descry My life's commandment in the sky : O, still to me the days endear When lengthening light leads on the year. In pity and benignity, Saviour, O, fully shine on me ; HYMNS FOR HEART AND VOICE. 53 And as thy beams upon me glow, Their power within me I would show : May clustering actions on that vine, My heart, in grape-like beauty shine ! XLVI. NIGHT. Day is passing, night is nigh \ Hast thou, spirit, done thy best ? Quiet breadths of evening sky Tell thee there remains a rest. Hast thou been of flesh the thrall ? Now awhile at sunset free, O, resolve, with morning's call, To assert thy liberty. Dost thou breathe an anxious prayer Darkly, like a cloud of sighs ? Darkest clouds in glory share As they towards the zenith rise. Through the sky, a temple dim, God is shining from the west \ And like shadowing cherubim, North and south his throne invest. Rising through the temple's height, Prayers shall brighten as they meet Streams of sweet and solemn light Flowing from that mercy-seat. 54 HYMNS FOR HEART AND VOICE, XLVII. MIDNIGHT. O holy ones, O watchers calm, While night anoints the earth with dew In silent love, can any harm Befall us as we gaze on you ? Gazing on you, we honour Him Who sends to earth your welcome light Across this dusky ocean dim Which circles round us every night. Do spirits from your distant shore, Ye homes of bright tranquillity, Sail sometimes, to see earth once more, Across this intervening sea ? Stand by us, when at solemn night, As once they did, for peace we yearn ; Whisper the secret, " All is right," Then, blessing us, unseen return ? It must be so ; and living ones, Unseen although they are so bright, Shedding their life around like suns, Fill now the darkness with delight. The starry air is full of bliss, — What evil can the soul befall ? The soul with friends surrounded is, And, lo ! it loves the Lord of all. HYMNS FOR HEART AND VOICE. 55 XLVIII. VICTOR Y. Now have we met that we may ask Recruited vigour for the task Of living as we would : For we would live by that same word Which all the honoured men have heard Who by their faith have stood. By faith first vanquishing their fear, They met each foe as he drew near, And still the victory won ; And often saved from deadly harm, They sang anew the ancient psalm, " God is our shield and sun." Through God alone can man be strong ; To comfort us He gave this song : " In Jesus Christ we stand ; Death held Him in his gloomy prison, He broke the chains, and has arisen, To rule the deathless land." His is the new and ancient word ; All wisdom man hath ever heard Hath been both his and He : He is the very life of truth, In Him it has eternal youth And certain victory. 56 HYMNS FOR HEART AND VOICE. An inner light, an inner calm Have they who trust his champion arm, And hearing do his will : For things are not as they appear \ In death is life, in trouble cheer, So faith is conqueror still. Thus would we live \ and therefore pray For strength renewed, that we may say, Our life still upward tends : If we who sing must sometimes sigh, Yet life, beginning with a cry, In hallelujah ends. XLIX. DISCRETION. Jesus, great friend of open speech Which wisdom prompts and wisdom leads, True courage give, discretion teach, To every one for Thee who pleads. Discreetly may we guard the truth From all dishonour to its fame ; And bold as with renewing youth, Indifferent be to foolish blame- Discreetly may we guard our life From faults that its professions mock ; But boldly stand in error's strife, And meet proud contradiction's shock. % HYMNS FOR HEART AND VOICE. 57 And ever at instruction's hour, 0, may our spirit and our tongue Work for the Church by mutual power, As for the body heart and lung. Like bells, the loud alarm which sound, Yet send afar the cheerful news Of peace achieved and victors crowned, O, may we all our voices use. And O, oft fill us with the rush Of heavenly winds ; for then shall burn Tongues calmly bright, and all shall hush And towards the quiet glory turn. L. SHOWERS OF SONG. As with sunny showers of song, Water now the new-sown grain ; Bright the blades must be and strong, Fullest ears we then may gain. Scatter with the breeze of song, From the newly opened flowers, Fragrance all our path along, Rich with salutary powers. 58 HYMNS FOR HEART AND VOICE. Thus the blessings of thy word Fully, Lord, ensure to those Who have felt that, as they heard, Seeds were cast and blossoms rose. Truths, by prompting us to sing, Better thy designs effect : So, our grateful worshipping Thou, the Truth, wilt not reject. LI. EFFORT. See the tide as advancing it breaks on the shingle, Then shines for a moment and ripples away ; Many waves in succession their efforts must mingle Before the bright waters will cover the bay. See the effort of man as he onward advances, — The wave soon runs back or is broken in spray • But the effort renews, and in spite of mischances To-morrow is still in advance of to-day. Then, my soul, let no check to the truth be dis- maying, Nor fear that thy rest will to thee be denied ; For the Church and each Christian, heaven's forces obeying, Shall float into harbour at height of the tide. HFMXS FOR HEART AXD VOICE. 59 LII. NEIGHBOURS. Lord, thou art not fickle ; Our hope is not in vain ; The harvest for the sickle Will ripen yet again. But though enough be given For all the world to eat, Sin with thy love has striven Its bounty to defeat. Were men to one another As kind as God to all, Then no man on his brother For help would vainly call. On none for idle wasting Would honest labour frown ; And none, to riches hasting, Would tread his neighbour down. O, is* there one in twenty With his own lot content, Though God has bread and plenty To all the nations sent ? 6o HYMNS FOR HEART AND VOICE. Till heart to heart is plighted In faith on heaven above, Earth's harvests must be blighted For want of mutual love. No man enough possesses Until he has to spare ; Possession no man blesses While self is all his care. For blessings on our labour, O, then, in hope we pray, When love unto our neighbour Is ripening every day. LIII. WHERE IS THY GOD ? Where is thy God, my soul? Is He within thy heart ; Or ruler of a distant realm In which thou hast no part ? Where is thy God, my soul ? Only in stars and sun ; Or have the holy words of truth His light in every one ? HYMNS FOR HEART AND VOICE, bi Where is thy God, my soul ? Confined to Scripture's page ; Or does his Spirit check and guide The spirit of each age ? O Ruler of the sky, Rule Thou within my heart ; O great Adorner of the world, Thy light of life impart. Giver of holy words, Bestow thy holy power ; And aid me, whether work or thought Engage the varying hour. In Thee have I my help. As all my fathers had ; I'll trust Thee when I'm sorrowful, And serve Thee when I'm glad. LIV. CITIZENSHIP. Fallen from ancestral glory, Shall we live unworthy days ; Dull to the inspiring story Of great Love's heroic praise ? Citizens of no mean city, If we bubbles idly chase 62 HYMNS FOR HEART AND VOICE. Scorn will dry the founts of pity, All men brand us with disgrace. Christians ! think what ye inherit, Read the archives of our State ; Jesus Christ is king by merit, O, be worthy and be great : Foam-like, man with vain pretensions Dashing upwards sinks and dies : Tree-like, saints to full dimensions Solidly and slowly rise. We, of fathers learned, witty, And their lesser fame, are proud ; See the martyr, mystic city, Ages vest it like a cloud ; Cloudy Time with hues of glory Canopies its ancient fame ; Shall the lustre of its story But the darker make our shame ? Let us each some honoured father Emulate in new career ; Say not, " Who am I ?" but rather, " Whose am I, that I should fear ? I am Christ's ; and I will cherish Every dear ancestral name : I am Christ's ; I cannot perish, Partner of his power and fame. ,, HYMNS FOR HEART AND VOICE. 63 Add a line unto the story, Add a name unto the roll, Add a beam unto the glory, Add a part unto the whole : Men, of ragstone and of rubble Palaces and churches build ; Shall, of men, a Saviour's trouble Fail to rear what He hath willed ? Let us each be humble, fervent, Bloom to heaven, but root in earth, Show the royal eyes observant Homely, tender-hearted worth : When the mingled crowd is sifted, Christ the tiniest grain will save ; Locust-like let fears be drifted Down into oblivion's wave. LV. FAITH, My faith, it is an oaken staff, The traveller's well-loved aid ; My faith, it is a weapon stout, The soldier's trusty blade: I'll travel on, and still be stirred By silent thought or social word, By all my perils undeterred, A soldier-pilgrim staid. 64 HYMNS FOR HEART AND VOICE. I have a Captain, and the heart Of every private man Has drunk in valour from his eyes Since first the war began : He is most merciful in fight, And of his scars a single sight The embers of our failing might Into a flame can fan. I have a Guide, and in his steps When travellers have trod, Whether beneath was flinty rock Or yielding grassy sod, They cared not, but with force unspent, Unmoved by pain, they onward went, Unstayed by pleasures, still they bent Their zealous course to God. My faith, it is an oaken staff, O, let me on it lean ; My faith, it is a trusty sword, May falsehood find it keen ! Thy Spirit, Lord, to me impart, O, make me what Thou ever art, — Of patient and courageous heart, As all true saints have been. HYMNS FOR HEART AND VOICE. 65 LVI. PR A YER FOR THE HOL Y SPIRIT. Gracious Spirit, dwell with me, — I myself would gracious be, And with words that help and heal Would thy life in mine reveal ; And with actions bold and meek Would for Christ my Saviour speak. Truthful Spirit, dwell with me, — I myself would truthful be ; And with wisdom kind and clear Let thy life in mine appear ; And with actions brotherly Speak my Lord's sincerity. Tender Spirit, dwell with me, — I myself would tender be ; Shut my heart up like a flower At temptation's darksome hour ; Open it when shines the sun, And his love by fragrance own. Silent Spirit, dwell with me, — I myself would quiet be, Quiet as the growing blade Which through earth its way has made ; Silently, like morning light, Putting mists and chills to flight. 66 HYMNS FOR HEART AND VOICE. Mighty Spirit, dwell with me, — I myself would mighty be, Mighty so as to prevail Where unaided man must fail ; Ever by a mighty hope Pressing on and bearing up. Holy Spirit, dwell with me, — I myself would holy be ; Separate from sin, I would Choose and cherish all things good ; And whatever I can be Give to Him who gave me Thee. LVII. MORNING. O morning so bright, So sunny, so sweet, Thou comest from God Our spirits to greet ; The weary heart rises, It cannot lie still ; Strange vigour surprises The care-fettered will. How can we despair, Or brood on our wrong? How can we be weak, When all things are strong ? HYMNS FOR HEART AND VOICE. 67 The morning has smiled, And our hopes in the sun, Like the feet of a child, Cannot move but they run. With sorrow our ears Have oft been dismayed, To sorrow our tears Some tribute have paid ; But tears from the sky Have been all wiped away ; This latest is bright As the earliest day. Dark things that we know Now shall not distress ; All grievance and woe Our God will redress : Bright things least expected We feel may be true, Now joys have returned That we formerly knew. O, be Thou our sun, Thou source of his flame, Then joyful we run Who were tired and lame : If love, in thy word, Like the morning arise, Complaints are unheard. Incredulity dies. 68 HYMNS FOR HEART AND VOICE. No heart that desponds Desponding need stay; Thou breakest our bonds At break of the day : Our liberty won, And our heart full of praise, This day of the sun Has the light of seven days. LVIII. SABBATH. Lord, on thy returning day, From common labour freed, We are come to sing and pray With felt returning need ; Come to seek our former rest, Come to urge our old request. Show us, Lord, the goal of life, And give us heart to run ; Breathe the peace that follows strife, Lest future work we shun : Hearts that hasty time has grieved Are by Sabbath calm relieved. We would sing as in the rays Of mercy ever bright, Which endureth, to thy praise, For ever thy delight : HYMNS FOR HEART AND VOICE. 69 Sing for happiness we know, Or that we may happy grow. We would pray as those who stand Their truest friend beside, Whom He takes as by the hand Unto their God to guide : .5y his power and for his sake Fully us thy children make. LIX. WEEKDA Y. Lord, I on every day With grateful heart would say, " Thy truths are sure and beautiful; How can my life grow dull ? " And when I eat and drink, I joyfully would think, That all Thou hast created good May be a wise man's food. And as I work and trade, Pay others and am paid, " Knowledge," I'll say, " we must not ' cease To exchange, and so increase." 70 HYMNS FOR HEART AND VOICE, And when I hear the crowd In busy traffic loud, I'll cry, " How sweet would be the sound, Were all but brothers found ! " And when my friends at night Count my return delight, I'll think how pleased my God will be His child in heaven to see. LX. EVIL AS USURPER. King of darkness, king of light, Evil can but rule the night As usurper, not by right, — Thine the true control. In the busy crowded day Thee we trust, to Thee we pray ; Else an entering shadow may Chill and blind our soul. When the evening comes, we muse, Till a brightening love bedews So our hearts, they can but choose Now to offer praise : HYMNS FOR HEART AND VOICE. 71 "^or with sleep Thou canst not bless ./hose whose wayward restlessness, Through anxiety's excess, Troubles nights and days. Now the slender starbeams are Messengers from countries far, Which on missions regular Come to give us hope, That our fretting cares shall cease, That the war shall end in peace, And from limits blest release Yield desired scope. LXI. WALKING BY THE SEA. I walked on sands beside the sea, And heard its ever-pulsing heart ; And mine was moved with sympathy, Desiring of such strength a part : Thou restest not, nor needest rest, O sea; while I who love thee yet Remain so weak, and at the best Am but a wish and a regret. The moon with glory filled the air, With holy lustre very calm, And all my thoughts in silence were Of fleeting good and frequent harm 72 HYMNS FOR HEART AND VOICE. Yet happy with a heart so tired Beside the moonlit waves to stand ; . I saw the good that I desired, Clear as my shadow on the sand. I did not long to go to rest, I longed for rest to come to me, And said, " Lord, O, that I were blest With strength and with serenity ; A heart as subject to thy will, And lighted with as calm a light, As waves which now the harbour fill, And lift their crests so purely bright/' LXII. CLOUDLESS NIGHT. Lord of that undistracted realm Which cloudless night reveals, Of every world Thou hast the helm,- What though the vessel reels ? If life is a tempestuous sea, Which winds imperious sway ; Though winds are mightier than we, Thou mightier art than they. Like earth, O, does each quiet star A stormy passage urge, And are we but away too far To hear the beating surge ? HYMNS FOR HEART AND VOICE. 73 Thus through a distant valley's length Slow seems to glide the train, And scarce is heard the throbbing strength Of the swift engine's strain. One ruler is there of the seas, One pilot at the helm ; Our hearts are rising with the breeze. Fear cannot overwhelm : O Jesus, Thou the ruler art, The captain kind and brave ; Sailing with Thee, our steadfast heart Defies the unsteady wave. LXIIL ONWARD AND UPWARD. As we by successive stages Upward climb towards the sky, Still a widening view engages An untired and wondering eye. Though the mountain slopes are gusty, Torrents roar and chasms yawn, Guide and staff alike are trusty, New fatigues are better borne. Look ! above us some are mounting. And below us some press on ; But we must not stop for counting Who has on this journey gone. 74 HYMNS FOR HEART AND VOICE. Mountain chains are but the bridges That a border district span, Breathless from the topmost ridges Our new country we shall scan ; See its plains in plenty sweeping, See its bright and bowery homes ; There no hunger is, no weeping, There no grief, no spoiler, comes. Ever in such mountain ranges Rugged difficulties stand ; He who crosses them exchanges Earth for the fair heavenly land. LXIV. REST. O, rest a while, but only for a while j Life's business presses, and the time is short : Ease may the weary of reward beguile ; Let not the workman lose what he has wrought. Rest for a while, if only for a while ; The strong birds tire, and gladly seek their nest : With quiet heart enjoy heaven's quiet smile; What strength has he who never takes his rest ? HYMNS FOR HEART AND VOICE. 75 Rest for a while, though 'tis but for a while ; Home flies the bee, then soon re-quits the hive : Rest on thy staff, walk then another mile ; Soon will the long, the final rest arrive. O, rest a while, for rest is self return ; Leave the loud world, and visit thine own breast ; The meaning of thy labours thou wilt learn, When thus at peace, with Jesus for thy guest. LXV. EARTH CLOTHED ANEW. From each dark branchlet of the trees When starry buds begin to shine, Their swelling light the watcher sees Soon break into a flowery sign Of life no winters can subdue, And love that never can grow less ; Which ancient plenty brings anew, With a forerunning loveliness. The ever-unforsaken earth Is re-espoused in vernal hour, And mid serenity and mirth Receives of wealth a starry dower : Heaven plights his love to her anew, And clothes her in a wedding dress, And will through changing months be true To this forerunning loveliness. 7 6 HYMNS FOR HEART AND VOICE. O heart, art thou again in flower, And does an inward force impel, Itself impelled by heavenly power, Thy thought in happy hopes to swell ? Doth God again in covenant new Unite with thee thy life to bless ? Then let thy future work be true To such forerunning loveliness. LXVI. RENEWAL. When the clouds so soft and tender Float upon the smiling blue, Lord, our heart, that old offender, Asks that it may serve anew. Winter now his sword is sheathing, And the warring winds are still, Thou upon our hearts art breathing, And they lose constraint and chill. All things happy seem and loving, All of tempers meek and sweet ; And the covered buds ungloving Seem with offered hand to greet. Shall our hearts be dull and cheerless ? O, forbid it mercy's powers ; Lord, we lowly will, yet fearless, Look Thee in the face like flowers. HYMNS FOR HEART AND VOICE, 77 When of days like these returning We with gentle sorrow think, Days of holy hope and yearning, Lord, from facing Thee we shrink. Yet, though former flowers were blighted, Wilt Thou present ones reject ? Let not offerings new be slighted \ O, forgive our past neglect. LXVII. FOUNDATIONS. How firmly they stand, Who, piercing the sand, Have reached and have built on the durable rock ! The wind and the wave, However they rave, Shall assault them in vain with impetuous shock. How sweet is the rest With which they are blest Who the violent brunt of the storm have withstood, When silent and clear The heavens reappear So eternally true and eternally good ! But he that hath willed His dwelling to build On the loose shifting sands of pretence and ap- plause, 7 8 HYMNS FOR HEART AND VOICE. He hath not a home ; For should the flood come, He must fall by the stroke of reality's laws. O, great is the fall, When downward sink all, Temples, houses, and palaces built on the sand ; Though stately and gay, More mighty than they Is the tempest, which nothing but rock can with- stand. But if in life's course, With merciful force, Truth should come in a storm, and destroy thine abode ; Thyself thou may's t save From the threatening wave, If with earnest repentance thou criest to God. He gives thee anew To choose for the true ; Digging deep, found the house of obedient faith : But why should the wise Need terror's surprise To teach them what wisdom convincingly saith ? HYMNS FOR HEART AND VOICE. 79 LXVIII. SUSTENANCE. O Thou, who by the meat and drink Which bounteous earth supplies Enablest still the brain to think, And brightenest the eyes : Who buildest up our fleshly frame, And dost that frame repair ; Changing, yet keeping it the same, With most mysterious care : How can the mute unconscious bread Become the speaking tongue ; And nerves, through which our pleasures spread, And which by pain are wrung ? Can lifeless water help to form The living, leaping blood, Whose gentle flow, in passion's storm Becomes a ruffled flood ? How much I know, yet know not how The thing I know can be : The Lord of mysteries art Thou, — Lord, I believe in Thee. lo HYMNS FOR HEART AND VOICE. The powers of common blood and flesh My spirit foul and grieve : O Lord, create my spirit fresh, Then these new health receive. On Christ, the meat and drink divine, I feed my thoughts and heart ; At each repast some acts are mine, But thine the chiefest part. Through Thee I stronger, better grow, Old life for new exchange ; Thy work divine by this I know, — It blends the plain and strange. LXIX. SINGING. In the fellowship of song Let' us worship happily ; Evil spirits dark and strong Fly before bright harmony. Into hearts sweet music sinks Like the rain-drops from the sky, Which, when withering nature shrinks, Fainting earth forbid to die. HYMNS FOR HEART AXD VOICE. 81 Singing, lo, some truth of love, With an instantaneous light Swift descending from above, Shines celestially bright ; Smites the fetters from our soul, Leaves the soul itself unscathed : Soon we hear the thunder roll, And in balmier air are bathed. Brightest truth's report we hear Echoing through the breadths of time ; And we hark with hply fear To the lingering sounds sublime. Song, like storm, can shake the heart, All its feelings change and clear, Bid the stagnant glooms depart That oppress life's atmosphere. LXX. FELLOWSHIP. We come to the place of our rest, Each traveller comes with his friend ; A brotherly heart is the best, If heavenward our footsteps we bend : How many the journey have gone ! How various the tales that they tell ! But all who go patiently on Shall find at the end it is well. li HYMNS FOR HEART AND VOICE. We come to the temple of peace, As comrades we come from the war ; Our limbs from their armour release, To-morrow the sword we must draw. We'll hear how the weak have prevailed, And think of the deeds they have done ; And then, when we next are assailed, Success may be easily won. We come for the hour of repose, As labourers we come from our toil ; We'll think of the prosperous close, Nor rest let anxiety spoil : We'll sit on the side of the hill, And look on the fields we have sown ; The ears are beginning to fill, The harvest will soon be our own. LXXI. REPOSE. Our heart is like a little pool, Left by the ebbing sea, Of crystal waters still and cool, When we rest musingly. And see, what verdure exquisite, Within it hidden grows ! We never should have had the sight But for this brief repose. //} JIAS FOR HEART AND \ OICE. %i And such a sight shall not be vain ; These beauties they require That we, though waves return again, Return when waves retire. I'll oft return as to a book Written with heavenly art ; Intent beneath the surface look, And read in thee, my heart. LXXII. THE FOUNT OF LIFE. See multitudes surrounding Life's fount admire its beauty ; But wisdom's word, how often heard When few have thought of duty : It yields supplies abounding, And blest is the receiver ; Then shall we choose to praise the hues, Forgetting thirst and fever ? Once multitudes were gazing Upon one living centre, The Son of Man, as He began On love's discourse to enter ; All the sweet words were praising, — Some wept as they were chidden ; But only few that Saviour knew, Who from the most was hidden. 84 HYMNS FOR HEART AND VOICE. Rise, fount of life, for ever ; Saviour, still be speaking ; For some reproved, by love are moved, And life's supply are seeking. Truth's brilliance fading never Wins many an eye admiring \ And some around will still be found To quaff the draught inspiring. LXXIII. WINTER. Slow is the fall to winter dark, As from the summer's height The chillier days our progress mark And the still-lengthening night. Slow are the steps by which we gain Our vernal liberty, And long we drag the frosty chain That bound us heavily. A happy progress, sure though slow, To bright and lengthening days, Dost thou, O rescued spirit, know, And hast thou rendered praise ? Beware ! another winter-tide May coldly shut thee in, Through forces thou hast not defied Of slowly strengthening sin. HV2IXS FOR HEART AND VOICE. 8 = Let not thy summer ever fall Towards winter dark again ; Thy heart's sweet fields are covered all With heaven's swelling grain. And golden light they every day Must drink in from the sun ; Then God will fetch his sheaves away When summer's course has run. LXXIV. WISDOM. Wisdom coming from above Fills for us the cup of love ; Drinking, let us upwards move Towards the seats of power. Father, thine the royal throne ; All that hath thy power shown Thou in love's design hast done, Done in wisdom's hour. Let us through our Saviour wise, By his loving spirit rise To our Father in the skies ; He is good and great. O, were this but understood, — To be great we must be good ; Learning then of Christ, we should Humbly serve and wait. 86 HYMNS FOR HEART AND VOICE. LXXV. HEART OF CHRIST. Heart of Christ, cup most golden, Brimming with salvation's wine, Million souls have been beholden Unto thee for life divine ; Thou art full of blood the purest, Love the tenderest and surest : Blood is life, and life is love ; O, what wine is there like love ? Heart of Christ, O cup most golden, Out of thee the martyrs drank, Who for truth in cities olden Spake, nor from the torture shrank ; Saved they were from traitor's meanness, Filled with joys of holy keenness : Strong are those that drink of love ; O, what wine is there like love ? Heart of Christ, O cup most golden, To remotest place and time Thou for labours wilt embolden Unpresuming but sublime : Hearts are firm, though nerves be shaken, When from thee new life is taken : Truth recruits itself by love ; O, what wine is there like love ? HYMNS FOR HEART AND VOICE. 87 Heart of Christ, cup most golden, Taking of thy cordial blest, Soon the sorrowful are folden In a gentle healthful rest : Thou anxieties art easing, Pains implacable appeasing : Grief is comforted by love ; O, what wine is there like love ? Heart of Christ, O cup most golden, Liberty from thee we win ; We who drink, no more are holden By the shameful cords of sin ; Pledge of mercy's sure forgiving, Powers for a holy living, — These> thou cup of love, are thine ; Love, thou art the mightiest wine. LXXVI. DISCONTENT. " Father, what portion of thy goods Falleth to me thy son ? Why are my brothers better off, With much where I have none ? " " My son, and hast thou known my love, And dost thou love me now ? Then many a far richer man Far poorer is than thou. HYMNS FOR HEART AND VOICE. Thou hast thy Bible and thy bread ; And waiting thou wilt see The secret meaning of thy life, And all my care for thee. Was not earth's most auspicious hour One darksome, sad, and wild ? When Crucifixion was the birth, Redemption was the child. And by thine Elder Brother now I am redeeming thee; He gives thee, that thou mayst be rich, To feel thy poverty. He gives thee, that thou mayst be kind, To grieve at cold neglect ; He gives thee, that thou mayst be wise, To feel thine own defect. He gives thee, that celestial joy Thy common hours may bless, To feel in all the shows of earth Essential nothingness. One loving Brother, then, thou hast, Who makes his wealth thine own : He goodness is ; and what are goods If God remain unknown ? " HYMNS FOR HEART AND VOICE. LXXVII. SUCCESS. O God, our spirits unassisted Must unsuccessful be ; Who ever hath the world resisted Except by help from Thee ? But saved by a divine alliance From terrors of defeat, Unvauntingly, yet with defiance, One man the world may meet. Disciples see their Master bleeding Upon the dreadful cross ; Hopeless of better days succeeding, They mourn the battle's loss : But at this hour of their bewailing, While sin on sorrow rails, 'Tis man who triumphs that is failing, 'Tis Christ who dies prevails. Though evil hearts together leaguing May do the righteous wrong ; And cruel craft with force intriguing Feel confidently strong; We know, if but the Saviour's story With heart of faith we read, That God through sufferings unto glory Salvation's sons will lead. 90 HYMNS FOR HEART AND VOICE. Say not, soul, thou art defeated, Because thou art distrest \ If thou of better things art cheated, Thou canst not be of best : Thy heaviest sighs with swift ascending Plead, and thy God attends ; And soon, the clouded heavens rending In comfort's beam descends. My soul is for a crown aspiring, The crown of righteousness \ My soul is for the truth inquiring, — For God, and nothing less : Sin, sorrow, and the dark conspiring, Assault me, and I bleed ; Tired am I, but through love untiring I know I shall succeed. LXXVIII. SACRED HAPPINESS. Spirit of sacred happiness, Who makest energy delight, And love to be in weakness might ; Now with enlivening impulse bless, Now re-confirm our steadfastness, And make us vigorous and bright. Blessed be Thou, O Heart supreme, Sweet charity's unfailing well, Whose bounty all the countries tell \ HYMNS FOR HEART AXD VOICE. 9 i Drinking of Thee, with sunny gle.am Forth-leaping into action's stream, Our heart's replenished fountains swell. Both work and sport Thou hallowest, Canst blissful make the busiest days, And woes that else benumb and craze By Thee to finer joys are blest, And hearts, of deeper power possest, With grateful tears thy wisdom praise. Spirit of bliss and sanctity, Who art invincible in good, Who hate and mockery hast withstood In every age ; how coward we, How selfish, restless, till by Thee Inspired to do the thing we would ! By unremorseful joys, O, woo Our hearts to holy efforts still ; Now with young life volition fill j For child-like, we are god-like too, — Likest our Father when we do With filial love and haste his will. LXXIX. WORK. My work appointed I have done, I who the work in doubt begun ; In mercy, Lord, accept from me All that appointed was by Thee. 92 HFMNS FOR HEART AND VOICE. Never would I commence a task But I thy will would know or ask : But often I present to Thee A good work done too wilfully. The wise must heavenly service do In heavenly mode and measure too ; Else their appointed tasks may be Done rather to themselves than Thee. How oft we persevere in pride With work that should be laid aside ! How oft thy choicer works postpone For others that are more our own ! Leave me not, Lord, and I will be A better servant unto Thee ; And what I have in zeal begun Shall with discretion too be done. And what I do with my delight, And what I do with all my might, Nor joy nor ardour shall pervert, To cause my weakness and my hurt. My words' are of my heart : O, hear, And give me a love-tempered fear ; Then work and working both shall be Appointed and approved by Thee. HVMNS FOR HEART AND VOICE. 93 LXXX. PROTECTION. Since penalties so fearful # . Thou dost to sin award, How can our heart be cheerful, How can we love Thee, Lord ? Because Thou still art gracious, Lord, even in thine ire, — Round blissful heaven spacious It is protective fire. Fear makes our souls the fitter To prize thy love and Thee ; For if the curse be bitter, Sweet must the blessing be : O, sweet to hear Thee saying, " Peace, heart, be ever still \ " O, sweet the full obeying Of thine eternal will. To Thee our heart is crying Amid deceiving sin, And worldly fears defying The faith that rules within : We from estranging error Our love to Thee would guard \ To us the chiefest terror Is lest we leave Thee, Lord. 94 HYMNS FOR HEART AND VOICE. Be fear to us a measure For valuing our hope ; And teach how great our treasure, How great salvation's scope ; How great the love unsparing Of Him who for us died ; How great the mercy caring New succours to provide. O, may we know Thee zealous To save us from our pain ; But ever wisely jealous Lest sin advantage gain : In smiting what Thou hatest, Such love is in thy wrath, That all which Thou createst The surer glory hath. LXXXI. JERUSALEM. See, bannered armies hem The favoured city round ; Vain are thy towers, Jerusalem ; False art thou found : With hills divinely girt And massive walls of stone, Impregnable to others' hurt, Lost by thine own. HYMNS FOR HEART AND I OICE. 95 Thy Temple, like a gem, Adorns thee, faithless bride ; Thy God, O fair Jerusalem, Hath left thy side : Ah, happy once and blest, A golden-feathered dove, When, like the jewel on thy breast, Shone forth thy love. A fruitless, fallen stem, Low on the miry earth Lies beautiful Jerusalem, Spoiled of her worth : Fire through her branches runs, — Consume her ! she hath sinned; Like ashes now her scattered sons Fly on the wind. My soul, lament for them ; Learn from this fatal fall ; For of a new Jerusalem Sons are we all : Round us are mightier towers, A brighter heaven above : O, be the Lord's, as He is ours, In faithful love. 96 HYMNS FOR HEART AND VOICE. LXXXII. OLD AND NEW. Breathe on us for the passing day The powers of ancient story ; Then we with joyful heart shall say, " Though Wisdom's head be hoary, His heart is fresh, undimmed his eyes \ And in the old we must be wise, If we would win new glory." New is the world at every hour, New runners find new races ; New is the spirit's prompting power, New hearts obtain new graces : But old and new are faith and love, And the great thought, all thoughts above, First things and last embraces. How came it, men of faith, to pass That ye were mighty-handed ? How brake ye down the gates of brass When few of ye were banded ? It was that through your open soul God like a tide did onward roll, And left no vessel strangled. How was it, lovers of your kind, Though ye were mocked and hated, That ye with clear and patient mind Truth's holy doctrine stated ? HVMXS FOR HEART AND VOICE. 97 In God, as in an ark, ye kept ; Around, and not above you, swept The flood till it abated. O Father of all mighty men, A river-fount unsealing In our dry hearts, O, let us then See Christ in full revealing ; Touched by the sceptre of his cross, With knightly scorn of shame and loss, We shall arise from kneeling. The rivers never backward run That for the sea are yearning, And never is the mid-day sun Found on his course returning : By gathering force, and onward stress, And strengthening beams, all doubt repress, My soul, thyself concerning. LXXXIII. WEAK THOUGH SINCERE. Weak we are, although sincere ; But in our sincerity Pleading weakness, we are here To obtain a hope from Thee, That we never Shall our own confusion see. H HYMNS FOR HEART AND VOICE. Often ready is our heart, Longing for an early rest, From its labours to depart While of little yet possest : O, may patience Faith confirm, and love attest ! Pleasures sweet and praises bright, — These the spirit may betray : O, how suddenly we might Fail on some unguarded day, And by yielding Cast the hope of years away ! Happy for us is the hour When from sinning we recoil ; Happy when the inward power Quickens at the view of toil : But the happiest Sad surprises may despoil. For desires that secretly Gain dominion in the breast, When comes opportunity From the will its mastery wrest ; Proving evil Known and mourned is not supprest. Thou who wast in all behaviour Ever equal, free from sin, HYMNS FOR HEART AND VOICE. 99 Be to us a daily Saviour ; Over secret evil win Secret conquest : Reign without, because within. LXXXIV. CONTRASTS. Lord, how wonderful is man In frailty and in force ; Eagle-like he upward can Fly to the sacred source Of his light and of his love ; But ah, how quickly is he found, Stone-like, falling from above, Or fluttering on the ground ! Should our hearts, that in the sun On eagles' wings can move, When the storms have but begun As weak as insects prove ? Hearts that have seemed firm as towers, — O, high in aim, in strength how brief !- Fly before the windy showers, Like an autumnal leaf? Wings must often shrink and fail Until the heart be right ; Faith alone can face the gale With an unflagging might ; ioo HYMNS FOR HEART AXD VOICE. Stormy clouds it pierces through, For bold and patient are its wings ; Reaching heavens bright and blue, It still ascends and sings. Man is like a flame of fire, That to a spark may die, Yet recovering re-aspire In streams towards the sky. What though broken be his wing, In Thee, O Lord, his help is found; From new hearts new pinions spring, And bear us from the ground. LXXXV. BRIGHTNESS. How often on a morning bright, Lord, whom we cannot see, Because Thou dwellest in the light, We feel we are with Thee ! The sky is then so beautiful, It keenly brings to mind Our many wishes dutiful, Thy many bounties kind. And pleasure seeks to make us wise, Intenser for the pain With which these memories arise Of wishes that were vain : HYMNS FOR HEART AXD VOICE. 101 Of wishes that have hastened toward Thy work, yet would not stay \ Like him who ran to seek the Lord, Yet sorrowing went away. To be invited we were glad, Yet glad to be excused ; Occasion's hour a welcome had, And yet it passed unused. But God in light has come again, And comforts though He grieves ; For happiness is born of pain To him who but believes. Through tangled thoughts thy mercy dear Shines with a richer grace ; As skies are seen more sweetly clear Through boughs that interlace. LXXXVI. SHADOWS. Shadows now are darker growing, But the friendly planet bright Momently is overflowing With a fuller, clearer light : See how mildly Every star confronts the night. 102 HYMNS FOR HEART AND VOICE. Say'st thou, " Times are darker growing?" In the darkness gather might ; To the grateful traveller showing God hath set thee for a light : Mildly constant Shine, and help to rule the night. O, be steadier in thy duty ; O, be brighter in thy zeal ; O, be holier in thy beauty, When the earth most needs to feel What the Christian Can perform to bless and heal. LXXXVII. SPIRIT OF BEAUTY. Spirit of beauty ! thy presence confessing. God can we see in a sparkle of ore ; Flowers and shells to our heart are expressing Love like its own, but transcendently more. Spirit of beauty ! each bough in its bending, Skies in their curve, and the sea in its swell, Streams as they wind, hills and plains in their blending, All, in our own, of God's happiness tell. HYMNS FOR HEART AND VOICE. 103 Spirit of beauty ! thou soul of our Maker. Suddenly shown in a gleam or a tint ; O, be each heart of thy joy a partaker ; Love, and its store, are alike without stint. Spirit of beauty ! thou teachest us sweetly ; Prophets and psalmists yield holy delight : Show us our Lord, and we then shall completely Know thee as gentle, omnipotent might. Spirit of beauty ! our offering w r e render, Thee in thy skyey dominion we praise ; Lark-like we rise to the shadowless splendour, Pouring out song as the sun pours his rays. LXXXVIII. QUIET. As to a quiet valley The lowly-hearted come, And there recruit and rally While threatening winds are dumb : Care cried, their doubt abetting, " Why any more believe ? The world is harsh and fretting, For sin you vainly grieve." But now, at ease reclining, Intent they look above, io 4 HYMNS FOR HEART AND VOICE. And see the lucid shining Of pure primeval love ; The strength of one day's quiet, And one day's fall repast On truth's celestial diet, For all the week will last. With new and tender grieving Their doubts they so lament, That soon all unbelieving Is lost in sweet content : Through griefs a joy is shining, As light shines through a tear ; Like dews with life combining, They shine and disappear. The cry is now for vigour Onwards in faith to press, Warm-hearted, through the rigour Of the cold wilderness : O Lord, we are not hardened, Thy life refills our heart ; O, let the doubt be pardoned That Thou the pardoner art. O Saviour, thy perfection For ours in heaven pleads ; Thoughts of thy resurrection, They are as fiery steeds, HYMNS FOR HEART AND VOICE. 105 Which now our hearts are raising, Like chariots bright with love ; Our voice thy bounty praising, As we are borne above. We who in valleys quiet, So holy, hushed, and warm, While unconfused by riot, Unbuffeted by storm, Are towards the land ascending Whence was our Saviour's birth, To-morrow must be wending The way He trod on earth. LXXXIX. BEFORE SERMON. Be thy word with power fraught, Many hearts in many ways Blessing with new love and thought To religion's added praise. Be it for the rash restraint, Ardour for the dull and cold ; Be it comfort for the faint, Be it counsel for the bold. Be it for the tempest-worn Haven for a quiet stay ; May it, like the wakening horn, Summon cheerful souls away. i o6 HYMNS FOR HEART AND VOICE, May some saddened hearts arise, And be blossoms in the light ; Some, like stars in clearing skies, Trembling be, yet very bright. As in whisper or in shout, Calming, rousing, Lord, be heard \ Such thy voice, that even doubt Cries "Tis He," and "Tishis word." XC. GOD'S ANSWERS. Oft when of God we ask For fuller, happier life, He sets us some new task Involving care and strife : Is this the boon for which we sought ? Has prayer new trouble on us brought ? This is indeed the boon, Though strange to us it seems ; We pierce the rock, and soon The blessing on us streams ; For when we are the most athirst, Then the clear waters on us burst. We toil as in a field, Wherein, to us unknown, HYMNS FOR HEART A XI) VOICE, icy A treasure lies concealed, Which may be all our own : And shall we of the toil complain That speedily will bring such gain ? We dig the wells of life, And God the waters gives ; We win our way by strife, Then He within us lives ; And only war could make us meet For peace so sacred and so sweet. XCI. GLIMPSES. Like one who blind sits rushes weaving, And listens to a constant stream, Feels the warm sun, but still is grieving Because he sees no sunny gleam ; So darkly I my life was spending, And all my work seemed mean and frail ; Time's sound with love's sweet warmth was blending, But, ah, I wore a heavy veil. Lo, now I see ; but when I'm musing, With God I seem, and yet apart \ And like a tear the eye suffusing, So swells a sorrow in my heart : 108 HYMNS FOR HEART AND VOICE. A pain is mingling with my pleasure, My joy is neither full nor pure, My light has clouds in over-measure, My glimpse of God will not endure. And when the light renews its shining, And strengthens me to wait awhile, Still do I thirst, though not repining, — I crave a word, a look, a smile. Yet, heart ! from hope be parted never ; Behold, thou seest, who blind hast been • Thy thirst shall be appeased for ever, — Soon shalt thou see as thou art seen. XCII. UNBELIEF FORBIDDEN. Mountains by the darkness hidden Are as real as in the day ; Be, then, unbelief forbidden In a dreary hour to say, " God hath left us, God hath left us ; O, why hath He gone away? " When He folds the cloud about Him, Firm within it stands his throne ; Wherefore should his children doubt Him, Those to whom his love is known ? God is with us, God is with us \ We are never left alone. HYMNS FOR HEART AXD VOICE. 109 Travellers at night, by fleeing. Cannot run into the day : God can lead the blind and seeing \ On Him wait, and for Him stay : Be not fearful, be not fearful ; They who cannot sing can pray. O, the bright and vast creation Can be terrible and stern, From its stroke be no salvation, Though on every side we turn ; Lord of nature, Lord of nature, Then to Thee our spirits yearn. Calm and blest is our composure When the secret is possest, That our God in full disclosure Hath to us his heart exprest ; Thou, O Saviour, Thou, O Saviour, Hast been given to give us rest. Space and time, O Lord, that show Thee Oft in power veiling good, Are too vast for us to know Thee As our trembling spirits would ; But in Jesus, yes, in Jesus, Father, Thou art understood. no HYMNS FOR HEART AND VOICE. XCIIL SILENCE. In silence mighty things are wrought, — Silently builded, thought on thought, Truth's temple greets the sky ; And like a citadel with towers, The soul with her subservient powers Is strengthened silently. Soundless as chariots on the snow The saplings of the forest grow To trees of mighty girth ; Each nightly star in silence burns, And every day in silence turns The axle of the earth. The silent frost with mighty hand Fetters the rivers and the land With universal chain ; And smitten by the silent sun, The chain is loosed, the rivers run, The lands are free again. O Source unseen of life and light, Thy secrecy of silent might If we in bondage know, Our hearts, like seeds beneath the ground, By silent force of life unbound, Move upwards from below. HYMNS FOR HEART AND VOICE. 1 1 1 And if our hearts well rooted be, Their love, like sap within the tree, With silent quickening moves ; Enlarged and liberated powers, More light and balmier warmth are ours, And God his presence proves. O Saviour, who, that silence keeps, But sometimes at the story weeps Of all that he has known ? That we are what we are, how strange ! How gradual the silent change By which our souls have grown ! XCIV. EXPECTATION. All faded is the glowing light That once from heaven shone, When startled shepherds in the night The angels came upon. O, shine again, ye angel host, And say that He is near ; Though but a simple few at most Believe He will appear. Ye heavens, that have been growing dark, Now also are ye dumb ; When shall the listeners say, " Hark, They're singing — He will come ? " ii2 HYMNS FOR HEART AND VOICE. Lord, come again, 0, come again, Come even as Thou wilt ; But not anew to suffer pain, And strive with human guilt. O, come again, Thou mighty King, Let earth thy glory see; And let us hear the angels sing, " He comes with victory." XCV. PROGRESS. Behold, how mighty truth, From a first glimmer pale, With gradual ray extends its sway, Through heaven to prevail : Sing ye praises, O, sing praises ; For truth can never fail. Behold, how mighty love, That from a firstling flower, By gradual heats, reveals its sweets, Gains universal power : Sing ye praises, O, sing praises ; And hail love's prospering hour. The God of truth and love, The ancient friend of man, Makes every age an onward stage, And has since time began : HFMXS FOR HEART AND VOICE. 113 Sing ye praises, O, sing praises \ God has a glorious plan. Though wisdom, like a cloud, Is undefined when bright, We will not stay, but haste away, And keep the cloud in sight : Sing ye praises, O, sing praises ; 'Tis never wholly night. Lo, from the cloud a shape Looks forth our souls to greet, — The Lord of grace, I see his face, And run with bounding feet : Sing ye praises, O, sing praises \ Sing grateful praises sweet. If once from out the light His smile on us has shone, Again the cloud his face may shroud, Yet boldly we'll go on : Sing ye praises, O, sing praises ; The dusk will soon be gone. Christ is our guide, our guard, On us no foes can prey ; Nor can we roam, for to our home He leads us night and day: Sing ye praises, O, sing praises, While on your homeward way. I iH HYMNS FOR HEART AND VOICE. XCVL INCONSTANCY. O, were I ever what I am sometimes, And never more what I sometimes have been ! For oft my spirit, singing as it climbs, Can make of winter bleak a summer green : And yet sometimes, and in the sunniest weather, My work and I have fallen out together. Now, earth seems drossy, heaven the land of gold ; Anon, heaven fabulous, substantial earth ; And sometimes in my God I can be bold, And say, " What hopes are mine in right of birth ! " And yet sometimes at former faith I wonder, And fears I once defied I now sink under. Lord, rid me of this natural waywardness, Unworthy one who is a child of thine ; Calm let me be when rudest winds distress, Nor lose occasion if the day be fine ; But, faithful to the light of sacred reason, One heart be mine in every changing season. HYMNS FOR HEART AND VOICE. 115 XCVII. THE COMING SUMMER. The soul's sweet summer is not here, But only breaths and flowers ; Its open glory will appear, But secret now its powers. Life here is like spring's fickle time, Alternate blight and balm ; But heaven will be our summer's prime, One bright unending calm. O, glad we are, yet scarce begun Our clay of happiness ; The light of an unrisen sun Is all that we possess. The joy with which our souls are blest, How silent and how pure ! But joy is twilight at the best, Although of sunrise sure. Spirit of Christ, through Thee we oft The coming summer feel ; Thou canst, in hallowing glory soft, A budding world reveal. Our hearts with an increasing glow Of morning hope, O, fill ; Christ's coming day we then shall know By joys devout and still. n6 HYMNS FOR HEART AND VOICE. XCVIIL FREEDOM. The chrysalis in crannies lies, Content awhile to be obscure ; But higher happiness is sure When forth on quivering wings he flies. He from his hovel dark shall come, Of wisdom's secret giving proof; And summer skies shall be the roof That spans his new palatial home. Formed in thine earthly tenement, O man of earth, when thou shalt die, A heavenly self shall upwards fly, If thou art wise : then be content. Believe in God, and soon shalt thou, Darkly maturing in thy prison, Follow the good, who, having risen, Enjoy resplendent freedom now. XCIX. AUTUMN. The sere leaf flickers down O'er gardens in decay ; For leafy robe and flowery crown Must both be put away : HYMNS FOR HEART AND VOICE. 117 The summer says farewell, With hushed and tender tone : Fear not, the buds again will swell, The blossoms be thine own. The incense in the smoke, While offerings burnt away, Of God's abiding favour spoke ; So now in this decay : The thoughts of holy rest, While summers disappear, Diffuse around the fragrance blest Of God's eternal year. In what a tender light Do summers fade and die, As if their spirit took its flight In tranquil ecstasy ! I will not mourn the signs Of death so sweetly calm ; Immortal hope, that round me shines, Brings every grief a balm. I'll blossom and bear fruit While glowing summers last ; And still the murmurings confute That say, " Thy joys are past." My joy is yet to come ; For through the sombre gates Of dark decay we reach the home Where life undying waits. n8 HYMNS FOR HEART AND VOICE. C. DEPARTURE. Departing in peace, With gentle release, The dream-weary soul from its slumbers is freed ; And hearing heaven's lays, It cries in amaze, " Ah, Lord, and now am I in heaven indeed ? How can I believe I no more shall grieve, — For ever awake from my dream-burdened sleep ? Too full my delight, The morning too bright : Ah, Lord, I'm so happy, permit me to weep. What light and what balm ! What thrill, yet what calm i My heart feels at once like a bridegroom and bride Lo, coming on me Thy likeness I see : Ah, Lord, 'tis enough, — I am now satisfied.'' CI. PATIENCE. Most high and patient God, When I a lonely man Sit silent in my narrow place, And try the world to scan, HYMNS FOR HEART AND VOICE. 119 How mighty Evil seems ! How frail the Truth ! And, O, I sorrow for the dreams That blest my youth. I hear a coming throng, Some great one passes by ; And brazen music clangs aloud His iron victory ; So great the general joy, I too feel glad : Then, " 'Tis but vanity ! " I say, And so am sad. And yet, most humble God, I crave magnificence ; O, purest meekness for my soul, But splendour for my sense : I want the heavenly King To come in state ; I want to see, and feel, and sing The good are great : To see, as in my dreams, Huge evil cower and end ; And hear huzzas on every side With hallelujahs blend ; The whispered truth to hear Proclaimed aloud • And see mankind a holy church And happy crowd. i2o HYMNS FOR HEART AND VOICE. CII. REAPING. When happy Christian hope began, This was its crown and sum, That He who came as Son of man As Sen of God would come ; For He, the Sower, must return His harvest-field to reap, The wheat to garner, and to burn Of tares the wasteful heap. Then Truth the sufferer shall rejoice, And Truth dishonoured shine ; And Truth denied be in a voice Of thunder hailed divine ; And Truth the patient worker rest, Abundant wealth his own ; And Truth the warrior be blest With victory and a throne. He came to save, and angel-songs But introduced his grief; He comes to judge, and wailing throngs But tell of earth's relief : Let folly and let falsehood fear, But all the nations sing ; The Truth Himself at last is here, Our own majestic King. HYMNS FOR HEART AND VOICE. 121 We saw Him, but we did not know That Goodness was our God \ And Justice with no sword to show Beneath our feet we trod : And though a light from virtue streams That makes all heaven glad, A virtue without golden beams To us no beauty had. Yet for us on the cross He crossed The river dark and deep, Though angrily the black waves tossed, The champion back to keep \ And conquering, He to earth again As King of life shall come ; And mightily in joy shall reign, Of hope the crown and sum. CIII. DIVINE FIRE. With feet of burning brass, When times are dark as night, Thou through the world dost pass, Consuming in our sight Dry trees and withering grass, With dreadful, happy light. O Thou consuming fire, Why should I fear thy flame, i22 HYMNS FOR HEART AND VOICE. Who purpose and desire To burn what Thou shalt blame, 111 weeds, and every brier Of folly and of shame ? With shining beams that smite The chains of darkness through, Thou smilest in the height, And all things smile anew ; Thy heat, in subtle might, Works with the gentle dew. O Thou creating fire, I feel thy warmth benign ; My hopes a flowering spire Arise, unfold, and shine ; And fruits that I desire Shall soon be mine and Thine. CIV. ANOTHER DAY. Another day may bring another mind, A mind to learn, when there is none to teach • To follow, when no leader we can find ; To enjoy, when good is now beyond our reach : A better mind, but not a better time, A mind to will, but not a time to do What had been done, if we in life's bright prime, When God was ready, had been ready too. HYMNS FOR HEART AND VOICE. 123 But what the better for his better mind Were changing man, and God not still the same ? When guide and light and joy we cannot find, Unchanging love has sent us useful shame. This other mind may bring another day, For days are given as man for days prepares ; Though many days of grace have passed away, The grace that gave them still the trifler spares; And saddens times while Time itself may last, That unwise man may come to better thought, Accept his future, and renounce his past, And be by sorrow into goodness brought. CV. THE CHILD, ha. ix. 6. The world was dark with care and woe, With brawl and pleasure wild, When in the midst, his love to show, God set a child. The sages frowned, their beards they shook. For pride their heart beguiled ; They said, each looking on his book, "We want no child." i2 4 HYMNS FOR HEART AND VOICE. The merchants turned towards their scales, Around their wealth lay piled ; Said they, " Tis gold alone prevails ; We want no child." The soldiers rose in noisy sport, Disdainfully they smiled, And said, " Can babes the shield support ? We want no child." The merry sinners laughed or blushed, Alas, and some reviled \ All cried, as to the dance they rushed, " We want no child." The old, the afflicted, and the poor, With voices harsh or mild, Said, " Hope to us returns no more ; We want no child." And men of grave and moral word, With consciences defiled, Said, " Let the old truth still be heard ; We want no child." Then said the Lord, " O world of care So blinded and beguiled, Thou must become for thy repair A holy child. HYMNS FOR HEART AND VOICE. 125 And unto thee a Son is born, Thy second hope has smiled ; Thou mayst, though sin and trouble worn, Be made a child." CVI. THE SON OF THE HIGHEST. Luke i. 32. little one who art so great, To-day there would be weeping skies ; For holy heaven foresees the hate Against Thee that on earth will rise ; Were not the holy heaven sure That love will work of hate the cure. A heart the gladdest and the best Thou hast, thy Father's babe and ours ; Smile, little one, in happy rest, There wait Thee dark tumultuous hours ; 1 see them, O, I see them near, And almost wish thou wert not here. I know Thee, Jesus, who Thou art \ But what have we to do with Thee, That Thou shouldst choose the bitterest part, And sink Thyself in misery ? Sorrows thy love will steep Thee in, But sorrows love for Thee will win. i26 HYMNS FOR HEART AND VOICE. Rest, nursling, in thine innocence ; King Herod's dagger cannot slay ; To darker death Thou goest hence, Toiling along a narrow way, Which ever leads from bad to worse, All thorny with an ancient curse. A curse ! O mother, dost thou hear What must befall thy little son ? Smile, baby, at thy mother's tear, The blessing by the curse is won ; Purer than snow will be our gains, By horror of his crimson stains. CVII. THE GOOD NEWS. A thousand years have come and gone, And near a thousand more, Since happier light from heaven shone Than ever shone before ; And in the hearts of old and young A joy most joyful stirred, That sent such news from tongue to tongue As ears had never heard. Then angels on their starry way Felt bliss unfelt before, For news that men should be as they To darkened earth they bore ; HYMXS FOR HEART AND VOICE. 127 So toiling men and spirits bright A first communion had, And in meek mercy's rising light Were each exceeding glad. And we are glad, and we will sing, As in the days of yore ; Come all, and hearts made ready bring To welcome back once more The day when first on wintry earth A summer change began, And dawning in a lowly birth Uprose the Light of man. For trouble such as men must bear From childhood to fourscore, He shared with us, that we might share His joy for evermore ; And twice a thousand years of grief, Of conflict and of sin, May tell how large the harvest-sheaf His patient love shall win. CVIII. ANNI DOMINI. O wondrous, weary years, That since the Saviour came, Roughened with strife and dark with tears, Have borne his name ! i28 HYMNS FOR HEART AND VOICE. Years of the Lord are these, But of a Lord away ; Therefore temptation and the cross Have had the sway. When shall the mystery end, And storms disperse the gloom, That earth may see the sun, and like A garden bloom ? Then wondrous, happy years, From that triumphant hour, Too calm for strife, too bright for tears, Shall speak his power. CIX. THE NEW YEAR. Again from mid-winter Comes forth the new year; Heir to strifes and to troubles, But born without fear : Through the eyes of this infant The Ancient of Days Looks with beams of prediction, To scatter dismays. He, the mighty King, ruleth, Immovably calm • No storms can his kingdom By any means harm ; HYMNS FOR HEART AND VOICE, 129 And his age-blazoned banner Still shines on the wind, To rally the legions That fight for mankind. Forth we steam through the tempest In confidence bold ; Faith's unbreakable cable Hope's anchor will hold : Forth we march to the battle With this in our mind, That men may be conquered, But never mankind. If mid clouds tempest-laden ' Our new morning breaks, And the strong-rooted nations A rising wind shakes, From behind terror's tokens, Assuringly through, There shines on for ever The pitying blue. But, O, coming Saviour, When speak'st Thou the word, u Be sheathed, sword of nations ; Shine, sword of the Lord ? " When shall war, the blind Samson, Thy victory know, And in a last carnage Himself overthrow ? 1 3 o HYMNS FOR HEART AND VOICE. 0, come, mighty Jesus, Earth calls to Thee, come ! The rainbow is brightest When darkest the gloom ; In the clouds red and murky Thy promise we see, And the loud-pealing thunders Are trumpets of Thee. All other thrones broken, When wilt Thou build one As firm as the mountains, As bright as the sun ? When, with last desolations Earth's weedage consume, That in unbeheld beauty Thine Eden may bloom ? That day for advancing, New year ! thou art sent ; Thy strifes shall but hasten Love's mighty event ; When the long-estranged kindreds In one blood made nigh, The hymn, " Christ is reigning," Shall swell to the sky. HYMNS FOR HEART AND VOICE. 131 CX. SIN OVERCOME. Beneath the darkest, basest will Of human hate and pride, Thou dost, with overcoming skill, A deeper purpose hide ; Men can but lift the spear to kill, That through the wound may pour Mercies, the thirsty world to fill, And flow for evermore. When down they tear the Tree of Life, And burn it like a weed, Their wrath is but a priestly knife, Thy Love the lamb indeed. With living seeds all winds are rife, Though fire the green tree burns ; And the pale Victim, in the strife, Eternal priesthood earns. Thus, through the follies we have done, Thou dost our good pursue ; Nor evil that we have begun Wilt let us finish too \ But endest all things by thy Son, Who with all sins has striven, That through forgiveness we may shun The sins Thou hast forgiven. 132 HYMNS FOR HEART AND VOICE. CXI. PETER'S TEARS. What tears are these that flow so fast ? The cock hath crowed for coming dawn, Twice hath he crowed ; the night is past ; With new day let new hope be born. It was the Lord at cock-crow came ; Like Moses' rod, with double stroke, A voice smote Simon in his shame ; Christ looked, — the strong man's heart was broke. He weeps, and bitter are his tears, As bitter as his words were base, As urgent as the sudden fears Which even love refused to face. O, love so false and yet so true, O, love so eager yet so weak, In these sad waters born anew Thy tongue shall yet in triumph speak. Thou livest, and the boaster dies, Dies with the night that wrought his shame • Thou livest, and these tears baptise — Simon, now Peter is thy name. HFMNS FOR HEART AND VOICE. 133 A rock, upon Himself the Rock Christ places thee this awful day; Him waves assault with direful shock, And cover thee with maddening spray. But safe art thou, for strong is He : Eternal Love all love will keep : The sweet shall as the bitter be ; Thou shalt rejoice as thou dost weep. CXII. THE TOMB. What ! is this the only rest Earth affords her heavenly guest ? For the child she had no room, To the man she gives — a tomb. O, Thou weary Man of Love, Here is stone around, above ; 'Tis the dark world's stony heart, Enter, and fulfil thy part. Tender linen swathes Thee round, And a napkin soft is bound O'er thy features sorrow- worn, And thy brow so sharply torn. i 3 4 HYMNS FOR HEART AND VOICE. Such a day deserves its night, O, sleep on and gather might ; When it pleases Thee to wake, Tomb and world alike shall shake. CXIII. THE STONE. " Who will roll away the stone ? We are few and are alone," Say the women, sad and weak ; " Who will give the help we seek ? : Thus in whispers low they talk, Sighing on their early walk, Of the work that has been done Ere the rising of the sun. Who will climb into the sky, Bring redemption from on high ? Who will light the dreary grave, And the dead and dying save ? All is done that thou wouldst do ; All is finished, soul, for you ; Life is born, and death is dead, Day is shining, night has fled. HYMNS FOR HEART AND VOICE. 135 CXIV. THE SPICES. There is purpose in this waste ; Women, as away ye haste, Precious spices strew the ground. Sweetness they will shed around. What ye meant for him, on us He has now bestowed, and thus Sunny winds with fragrant breath Will disperse the scent of death. Happy morning, calmly bright, Never clouds shall dim your light ; Happy garden, kindly free, All the world may walk in thee. Love is freer than the wave, Love is stronger than the grave, Love is brighter than the sky, Love has won the victory. CXV. PENITENCE. To-day they " know not what they do ; n To-morrow, when they see Their deed, how cruel, must they rue Wrong done half-wittingly ? i 3 6 HYMNS FOR HEART AXD VOICE. When trembling they for mercy sue, Wilt Thou severely say, " Your hands in blood ye did imbrue ; Die, then : " and turn away ? Xo, that be far from Thee to break These penitents so bruised, Whose hearts for that wild error ache They did with minds confused : Their sin, that made the dull earth shake, The speechless heavens grow black, Thy Mercy quite away can take, When Love comes conqueror back, — Love, stronger than the grave and hell, Than fire and frozen death, — To be Life's cool, eternal well, Life's mild, eternal breath. Sweet sap within the Cross shall swell, Green branches round it twine, That heavenly fruits to earth may tell This sorrow was divine. CXVI. THE TWO CROWNS. Come forth with twice-anointed feet, And head that waits a second crown, Thou art more living than the love Of those who gently laid Thee down ! HFMXS FOR HEART AXD VOICE. 137 Pain is their life, thy grave their cross, They grieve, they sigh, they faint for Thee ; Come forth, and make time's bitterest loss The joy of their eternity. Sinner and saint have loved Thee well ; With ointment pure and purer yet They have anointed Thee, thy feet With heaviest rain of tears were wet : The sinner wept away her sins, The saint held cheap her costly gift ; Arise, Thou lover of both, and each To heaven and higher heaven lift. Crowned but with thorns, thy timid friends Who found Thee where to lay thy head, From secret into open love Arose at once when Thou wert dead ; With blood-anointed brow come forth, And wear thy shining second crown ; Then into gentleness shall rise The world that roughly cast Thee down. CXVII. SORROW ENDED. Arise, sad heart, arise in haste, Come forth, but not to weep ; Come, end thy sorrow at the grave Where Jesus lay asleep : 138 HYMNS FOR HEART AND VOICE. He was astir before the sun, The stone was rolled away While darkness yet withheld the dawn, — There are two suns to-day. His servant, day's familiar lord, Shall shine no more in vain ; For He, the everlasting sun, In flaming power shall reign. Rise, feeble heart, come quickly forth, Though weary night was long ; Let sorrow now be very glad, And weakness very strong. Forget the shudder and the shout, The noon with terror black, That darkly-finished work of woe, — The worker has come back ; Himself his finished work, He's here ; . Come, greet the holy light That flows from sorrow-softened eyes With love eternal bright. Rise, happy heart, arise in haste, And into Eden come, New Paradise is planted now, And He, its beauty's sum, Its tree of life, its light of life, Its river of life, is here ; Come, hallow many happy songs With one last happy tear. HYMNS FOR HEART AND VOICE. 139 CXVIIL JORDAN. Jordan, thou crooked river, Flowing to the sunken sea, Filled with lightsome, living waters Troubled in lake Galilee : Ever onward, downward, hasting To the abyss whose bitter waves Soon, the living waters tasting, Dying, sink into their graves. Forth no more thou goest, river, From thy grave, the sunken sea ; Breaking through the bars of desert Shall a bitter stream go free ? Heavy now thy lightsome waters, Salt as penitential tears, Shed by Israel's sons and daughters. Grieving for the wayward years. Brimming river, ancient river, River dear to hearts that love, Can it be that thou hast perished ? No, the mighty sun above To the sea of death is giving Vapour's resurrection dress, And thy waters rising, living, Leave behind their bitterness. 1 4 o HYMNS FOR HEART AND VOICE. Israel, thy course was wayward ; 0, my soul, and so is thine \ But the brightness everlasting Makes the dead sea smile and shine ; Though we die because of sinning, Falling towards a dark abyss, Yet our end may be beginning Of our rising into bliss. Arrowy river, happy river, He who on Gennesaret's lake Firmly trod when waves were tossing, Calmed their trouble when He spake, Was He not baptised within thee Ruler of the sunken sea ? He has power from death to win thee ; He has risen, and so shall we. CXIX. TRIUMPH. The glory of God from the way of the East Shines into the sepulchre, slumber has ceased ; The stone, like a cloud, has moved lightly away, And on it there sits a strong angel of day. O, ring, bells of heaven ; ye throngs of the blest, Again hallelujahs may swell from your breast ; Let surges of music, like summer seas bright, Reecho and roll through the heavenly height. HYMNS FOR HEART AND VOICE. 141 They hated and sent Him in darkness to dwell Beneath the great mountains and billows of hell ; But He lighted the caverns of ancient despair, And with a new chain bound the fiend in his lair. He's at liberty set who so sorely was bruised ; He triumphs to-day whom the people refused : Of all that have loved Him he'll comfort the soul, Now his own wounded heart is for ever made whole. And, O, ye kind angels, who grieved for your song, Sing anew, for the right has prevailed o'er the wrong ; The best of good-will shines through hatred and pain, And glory and peace have arisen to reign. cxx. THE RISEN LORD. O hand, O breath divine, The helpers of my need ; Lord, let a gift from each be mine, Now Thou art risen indeed; Thy hand, thy very heart, Thy lips, were cold and still • But full of second life Thou art, Yet of no second will. i 4 2 HYMNS FOR HEART AND VOICE. Thy lips are mild and kind, The bitterness of death Has raised in Thee no vengeful mind, Nor kindled fiery breath : Thou art but Jesus weak Become omnipotent, Almightily to do and speak Eternal Love's intent. O, hand that bore the reed, O, hand that felt the nail ; Humility is strength indeed, And patience shall prevail : O, breath that deeply sighed, O, breath that purely prayed ; With lowest comes the highest tide, For joy was sorrow made. With breath that sighed, inspire ; With hand once pierced, uphold \ Then, Lord, our courage and desire Nor faint shall be nor cold : All things Thou hast reversed, In Thee we rise, not fall ; Thy second life has, through thy first, Abolished death for all. HYMNS FOR HEART AND VOICE. 143 CXXI. JUDGMENT. The Apostle spake of judgment just, And certain unto men as death ; Prince Felix felt as if the thrust Of deadly arrows stayed his breath : " I'll hear thee at convenient time," He said, his terror to dissemble ; But when can guilt conveniently Invite the truth that makes it tremble ? Of Jesus risen, O, news so glad, The light of life to nations dead, The Apostle spake : " Paul, thou art mad," With a loud voice Prince Festus said : What, will the prince outspeak the voice That pierced to Lazarus in his grave, And stilled the clamouring winds for those Who said, " We perish 3 Jesus, save ? " " Believest thou," the Apostle cried, " O King Agrippa, yea, thou dost, The ancient word ? " The king replied, " Almost in Christ thou mak'st me trust." " O, were ye all and wholly his," Said Paul, his fervour shook his chain, " Not bound as I, but with me free ; i Almost ' is altogether vain." 144 HYMNS FOR HEART AND VOICE. CXXII. ASCENSION. In well-loved blue the heaven shines, Familiar heaven, ever dear ; But no array of heavenly signs Attests the Lord's departure near; No flaming chariot hurts the sight, No note of trumpet stirs the air ; But pleasant Bethany is bright, So full of peace, so free from care. Wherf last He said, " I go away," A wondering sorrow filled our hearts ; But gladness wonderful to-day Shall fill them as the Lord departs : He lifts those hands so lately torn, Whose every touch was health and love, And, blessing us, is gently borne Towards his home of light above. O grandeur of simplicity ! Alone, in silence, He ascends ; It is his earthly self we see, And downwards still his looks He bends : The happy angels, kindly wise, Their glory hide, their song restrain, Lest thoughts should in our spirit rise, " Alas, we lose, that you may gain." But while in worship hushed we stand, Sweet voices, yet not his, we hear ; HYMNS FOR HEART AND VOICE. 145 Two brother angels are at hand, To speak as He shall disappear : " Ye newly blest, and not bereft, On yon fair cloud who gazing stay, Of king and kingdom is there left But this fair cloud, to fade away ? His home of light, and yours and ours, We leave and soon are by your side ; And have we humble ones such powers, What then are his for earth who died ? Back from the darksome grave Fie came, And back shall come from this bright cloud In glory of majestic flame, With shout, and songs, and trumpet loud." CXXIIL BENEDICTION. He sat upon the mountain side. And blest the meek and pure, And over us to be our guide The shining words endure ; In glory of a peaceful cloud, Our pride and sorrow's cure. And once this ever-glorious man Took babes within his arms To bless them, and He never can Abandon us to harms : 1 46 HYMNS FOR HEART AND VOICE. This blessing lights the mother's eye, Her apprehension calms. And once the barley-loaves He blest, And fishes of the lake, That multitudes in happy rest Their happy fare might take ; This blessing every common meal A holy one may make. And once He said, " O blessed thou, Who dost so clearly know Eternal life is with thee now ; This doth my Father show." How blessed they who in the power Of this great knowledge grow ! And once He blessed the bread and cup, " These are for you," said He ; " Though vines and corn may wither up, This blessing's constancy Will nourish on my truth and love All who remember me." And now in one last blessing He All blessings comprehends, And cheerfully and tenderly He gives them to his friends \ That most he may be with us when He leaves us and ascends. HYMNS FOR HEART AND VOICE. 147 CXXIV. CONDESCENSION, O Thou whose inmost name is Love. Thy double power we know, The Lord of happiness above, And Lord of grief below : Two centres hast Thou, holy King, The heaven and the heart, Thy world of souls for governing With admirable art. When for the poorest, saddest, worst, Thou earnest down to die, The very heart thou enteredst first Of all our misery, Love to Thyself Thou kindlest there So comfortably bright, That in the depth of our despair It burns a quenchless light. O Height, it is the only friend That depth can fully bless, And Thou to us didst condescend In utmost lowliness : Thou hast a centre in our heart, The Highest's humble son, i\nd over grief supreme Thou art, And Thou and we are one. 1 48 HYMNS FOR HEART AND VOICE. And Depth, unto what other end Than height can it aspire ? We rise because Thou diclst ascend, And still are rising higher : In Heaven Thou hast a centre too, And rayest forth thy power, That we of pleasures sweet and true May reach the crowning hour. cxxv. WINDS. A mighty wind arose in air, Commotion swept the world, And many a heaven-saluting tree To earth was roughly hurled ; When forth for havoc, with wide-spreading pinions, The evil lord raged through his high dominions. The lord of quarrel and of wrath, And unsubmissive will, Who, seeking joy in boisterous change, Continues joyless still; But let the mimic lord of hosts aerial Yield to a Prince with power and right imperial. Lo, spirit against spirit matched, The Lord of Peace prevails, And now the torn and thirsty earth Is swept with generous gales ; HYMNS FOR HEART AXD VOICE. 149 Musical is the sound of their great rushing, As on they come, away the dull clouds brushing. The Lord of brightness and of warmth, Of fragrance and of dew, Who having joy in life and growth, Finds pleasures ever new • To herbs the earth, and trees the heaven caressing, Alike He gives his soft and sunny blessing. Hail, mightiest and bounteous wind, Distributor of wealth, Who giving, com est to confirm Or to restore our health ; A blessing thou, bright energy diffusing, For every other blessing's happiest using. CXXVI. RESCUE. Help, holy Lord, against the league Made by the wicked three, The world, the devil, and the flesh, Those foes of sanctity : O, help, for bitter is the feud, And cruel is the hate, With which they have our souls pursued Far forth from Eden's gate. 150 HYMNS FOR HEART AND VOICE. A while the world is bright and fair, The devil smiling stands, And offering it to tempt the flesh, He holds it in his hands ; And then the world is full of woe, The flesh of pain and shame, And evil lurks with flickering tongue, Or glares with blinding flame. Help, holy Wisdom, holy Power, O, help, Thou holy Love, The good against the evil three, Who coming from above, In Christ have fought a rescuing fight, The stronger with the strong \ O, help, for still the evil league Their vain attempt prolong. O Spirit, make the flesh of man Like flesh of little child, And form a world by which we may Be pleased, but not beguiled \ Kindle the tongues that burn to bless, But quench the fires that grieve, And let the tongue of falsehood cease To flicker and deceive. HYMNS FOR HEART AND VOICE, 151 CXXVIL THE SUN. The sun aloft, but not aloof, Shines on for evermore ; Makes gold the heavenly roof, And green the earthly floor. His glories flow in ocean streams, No ebb can make them less ; First is he, but his beams The last and least things bless. For high and low, and near and far, By love can neighbours be ; All heaven has no star Too proud for sympathy. O changeless Lord, celestial sun, Who art all souls above, To make them with Thee one In ever-burning love : In open, ever-during light, From ever-shining face ; In ever-serving might, And ever-flowing grace : For heart like Thine, O royal friend, How long the world has sighed ! Bring soon to utter end The loneliness of pride. 1 52 HYMNS FOR HEART AND VOICE. CXXVIII. HOLY COMMUNION. I. Remember us who would aright, O Lord, remember Thee, As on the dark betrayal night Shone forth thy constancy. To Thee, the Truth, O, keep our love From worldly leaven pure, Raising our spirits far above Each common threat and lure. ii. Thy body, like a temple built, But wrapt in cold and gloom, A sanctuary for our guilt, Lay silent in the tomb. Lo, it appears ! how full of light, Of majesty, of grace, How wide the gates, how warmly bright The open, holiest place ! in. O Spirit of remembrance, tell The tale of Love and Sin \ Their mighty strife, and how He fell, Whose was the right to win. Then, kind interpreter, explain How, rising from his fall, He bore aloft our broken chain, And shone the life of all. HYMNS FOR HEART AND VOICE. 153 IV. He taught forgiveness, and forgave ; He prayed, that we might pray ; He said, " Care not your life to save," And gave his own away. " Seek treasure of un wasting worth," He said, Himself so wise, That now his vine cheers all the earth, His bread the world supplies. Victorious evermore art Thou, The victim of a day \ The thorny crown upon thy brow Sends coward fear away. Thy death was for eternal health, Thy shame for endless praise : O, bleeding hands ! the left has wealth, The right has length of days. VI. If we will live, by love and trust, On Him who bore our woes, Within this body of the dust Another body grows. Its substance like its spirit is \ For joy's immortal Lord Makes soul and body such as His His gift, and our reward. 154 HYMNS FOR HEART AND VOICE. VII. Is Christ divided ? Yea, for us The one white loaf He breaks ; But every piece is bread, and thus Of one strength each partakes. Is Christ divided ? Yea, He parts The wine of living red, That each may drink, and all the hearts Be gladdened that are fed. VIII. Pure juices sweetened by the skies Are in the grass ; and, look ! There feeds the lamb for sacrifice In meadows by the brook. Creatures of fierce or gentle kind Can be but as they eat ; We all should have a worldly mind Without a heavenly meat. IX. Lord, when again Thou earnest up From hell's most darksome gate, Rememberedst Thou that bitter cup Of envy, wrath, and hate ? Thou didst : and giving this for that, Thy love, remitting sin, Said, " Take the cup of life, and at Jerusalem begin." HYMNS FOR HEART AXD VOICE. 155 x. Lord of the stars and spirits seven, Celestial breaths and rays ; Thee all the company of heaven With love adoring praise. And we, who eat and drink with Thee, Though only on our way To win the land so bright and free, Will love and sing as they. CXXIX. UNBELIEF. We use or waste the beams so bright That travel far and swiftly run ; But can there be another light Above the brightness of the sun ? A few say Yes ; but some say No ; And others say, Can that be so ? But narrow faith enlarges grief; Help therefore, Lord, our unbelief. With steam and sails the seas we brave, And over billows find our way ; But can the fickle, yielding wave Give foothold and commands obey ? A few say Yes ; but some say No ; And others say, Can that be so ? But narrow faith enlarges grief; Help therefore, Lord, our unbelief. 156 HYMNS FOR HEART AND VOICE. We sometimes sow and nothing reap, Or labour much for little bread ; But can a store exhaustless keep, And thousands on a loaf be fed ? A few say Yes ; but some say No ; And others say, Would that were so But narrow faith enlarges grief; Help therefore, Lord, our unbelief. We tire and sorrow, pine and die, Then, Give the earth its earth, we say : But are there homes within the sky, And bright, unwearying, happy day ? A few say Yes ; but some say No ; And others say, Ah, were it so ! But narrow faith enlarges grief; Help therefore, Lord, our unbelief. O heavenly light and power and peace, O bread of life, and life of joy, Why should we grieve, if grief may cease, And death itself alone destroy? Why ? say a few ; We must, say some ; And others, Can his kingdom come ? But narrow faith enlarges grief; Help, Lord, O, help our unbelief. HYMNS FOR HEART AXD VOICE. 157 cxxx. RESURRECTION. O, there are words lips often say, They're spoken in the wind and rain, And heard upon the sunniest day, And sweeteners of the bitterest pain ■ They're uttered as we're pacing slow Towards the dear and holy door, And when we each of us must go The way we've never been before. And this their burden soft : " I am The resurrection and the life ; Mother, I have the little lamb ; Husband, I have the darling wife ; Young man, I have the honoured maid \ Maiden, I have the faithful youth : All, all I have, and I will save ; I am the way, the life, the truth." These are thy words, Thou Chief of men. O, let them still be sung or said : But shall we only hear them when Sorrowing we carry forth our dead ? Thou speakest thus, each busy day, In still voice at the holy dawn, — " I am the life, the truth, the way • O soul, to this end was I born.' 7 158 HYMNS FOR HEART AND VOICE. How, Saviour, can the dead be Thine, Who living never heard thy voice ? All brightly can their garments shine ? All sweetly can their hearts rejoice ? How canst Thou those a welcome give, Who never cast a care on Thee ? And how can they in honour live Who won with Thee no victory ? Souls we'll commit of every kind Into thy just and tender hands ; But shall we come to meet Thee blind, Or see our Saviour as He stands, And listening, loving, hear Thee say, — Our guide, our champion in the strife,- " I am thy true ascending way, Thy resurrection and thy life ? " CXXXI. AGE. A little sunshine and a little talk, Much Bible and much rest upon his chair, He loved, and often in his tottering walk Grandchildren had him in their pretty care. He sleeps, the old man sleeps : O children, tell, How white his hairs, but whiter were his deeds ; Whiter, not fewer : honoured friend, farewell ! We'll keep our thoughts of thee as precious seeds. HFJIXS FOR HEART AND VOICE. 159 Sown in our hearts they'll yield thee fruits of worth, Fruits of thyself in pious deed and word ; Thus back thy younger self shall come to earth, And thou in us again be seen and heard. And more : for lives are new, and men must seek Still to be better, and then better still. Strong fathers would not have their children weak, But of yet stronger and yet purer will. CXXXII. GONE ! My little flower, my little flower, The earth is very dark to me, Whose love was growing every hour The while I watched thy growth and thee. O broken hope, O breaking heart, O baby steps that sound no more, O prattle hushed : gone, gone thou art, My darling, from thy father's door. Thou playmate of the wind and sun, With prettiest foot, and prettier hand ; Quite still thou art, the play is done : My God, I cannot understand. 160 HYMNS FOR HEART AND VOICE. And dost thou understand, man, How this fair thing should spring from thee, So bright, so pure? Such blessing can Begotten of thy sorrow be. Thy flower that bloomed but for a day Is now a star, that every night Shines high in heaven to point thy way On to the tearless country bright. Ah, Lord, then, whether calm or wild My night returns, still let me see My star, my flower, my growing child, My baby smiling down on me. CXXXIII. EMMANUEL. Why stooped the Majesty on high ? Why spake so simply the Alivvise ? How came Omnipotence to sigh ? Why wept the Joy of all the skies ? Shall, then, the Father all things know Except the children's want and pain ? And in his heart all sunshine glow, Except the sunshine after rain ? HFMXS FOR HEART AXD VOICE. 161 And all great things may He perform Save greatly fill a humble part ? And rule, but never feel, the storm That buffets us in face and heart ? And may He in abstrusest lore Teach angels his eternal sway, But never come to our own door To give us comfort for the day ? Day's burden off, its labours done, Poor lodging at the weary end Had He, of gold and silver none, A needy man, and all men's friend. Be glad, the world of toils and scorns But perfects Him whom first it mars ; O, love Him for his crown of thorns, Then praise Him for his crown of stars. CXXXIV. THOR O U Gil NESS. Give Him brain and breast, And thy ready hand ; He is wisest, best, For Him stir or stand. M 1 62 HYMNS FOR HEART AND VOICE, Give the day and night, For Him, trusting, stay ; His arising light Show thee will thy way. Give thyself and thine, Life and livelihood, Still thy less resign For his greater good. Silence give, or word, As his need may ask ; Often er seen than heard, Toil thou at thy task. Give Him cup and plate, Fill them with thy best ; Say not, " It is late ; Trouble not my rest." Grudge Him not his day, In thy spirit search — Shouldst thou be away From thy place at church ? See Him in the street, Serve Him in the shop, Sow with Him thy wheat, House for Him thy crop. HYMNS FOR HEART AND VOICE. 163 Sail with Him at sea, Work with Him on land ; Tell Him faithfully All that thou hast planned. Love and learn Him more As the common friend ; Joys thou thus shalt store For the happy end. cxxxv. TESTIMONIES. If love in any heart arise, And stir the tongue, and light the eyes, And speed the foot, and fill the hand \ Then, Christian, thou must understand That though un thought of, God is there ; So of denying Him beware. If Littlemore makes haste to bless His troubled neighbour Littleless, And poor men to the poorer give, Weak ones the weaker help to live, The sad those sadder still console ; Then God is working in the soul. If the grown man foregoes his bread That little mouths may first be fed ; 1 64 HYMNS FOR HEART AND VOICE, And patient women serve the men Who care for them but now and then, And love keeps warm without a fire ; O, then, the grace of God admire. Two strangers ocean may divide, Who yet shall bridegroom be and bride, And God unknown to souls may be Who love Him will eternally \ But all true hearts our Father knows, And will to them his truth disclose. CXXXVL DORCAS. When Dorcas worked to clothe the poor, A neighbour or a friend Sometimes came tapping at the door, A little help to lend ; Then Dorcas said, " Come in, my dear ; All willing hands are welcome here." A friendly light was in her eyes, And pity on her tongue, Her words were mild as well as wise ; And round her room there hung HFMJSTS FOR HEART AXD VOICE, 165 Nice things to make the children glad, And warm ones for the old and sad. And everybody in the town Knew Dorcas, as she went, In any weather, up and down, On doing good intent ; And blest her for her cheerful face, The kindest woman in the place. But tender-hearted Dorcas died ; New tears the widows shed ; For, " Who such garments can provide, Now she is gone ? " they said ; Dorcas, who by the pleasant sea Had spent her life so usefully. She died : they bore her as was meet, With many a heavy sigh, A little further from the street And nearer to the sky : Now in a spacious upper room She waits the low and narrow tomb. " O Peter, can she live again ? This is a grievous day." Said he, " Submit, and not complain ; But I will kneel and pray : 1 66 HYMNS FOR HEART AND VOICE. 1 Lord, on thy sorrowing people smile ; Give Dorcas back a little while.' " She came : " But not for long," she said ; " For God will others raise Whose lovingkindness, in my stead, His gracious name shall praise ; I heard a voice in Paradise Say, t Lovingkindness never dies.' " And Dorcas in her daughters lives, Industrious and kind ; For help her good example gives To willing hand and mind. Lord, in our hearts her spirit stir : She followed Thee ; we follow her. CXXXVII. THE WANDERER. I travelled upwards to the stars, And saw a silent glory there ; I travelled far across the waves ; I toiled amid the mountain air ; The winds they only wailed and sighed, And still I bore a burdened mind : " O, why," I said, "why doth He hide ? O, when shall I my Father find ? " HYMNS FOR HEART AND VOICE. 167 My spirit rose at weary night The while I lay upon my bed, And wandered forth into the dark, By thought with glimmering lantern led ; To visit every place I tried Which I had seen and left behind : " O, why/' I said, " why doth He hide ? O, when shall I my Father find ? ,; I opened many a dusty book, And many new ones looked upon ; But all the leaves were wheatless straws, And through the dust no sunbeams shone ; And prisoner-like my task I plied, The books like bars my soul confined : " O, why," I said, " why doth He hide ? O, when shall I my Father find ? " The street has men, the country grass, The garden flowers and many a worm, The past is waste, the future fear, The present an uneasy term : Errors I see on every side, But when I look for truth, am blind : " O, why," I said, " why doth He hide ? O, when shall I my Father find ? " " Never," a voice said, " if not now, And nowhere, if not everywhere : Return into thyself, for thou Art child of hope, and not despair. 168 HYMNS FOR HEART AND VOICE. One lost and found Him on the cross ; His love was in the very nails, His patience in the piercing thorns, His pity in the women's wails. Take thou a splinter of the cross And light it at the flaming heart Of Him who suffered every loss, Yea, of the God thou seeking art, But found Him ; and with this bright aid Thou find Him shalt thyself within : O, wandering, weary spirit haste, Thy prize thou art about to win." Hear, silent stars ; hear, noisy waves ; He's found, He's found, my Father's found ; My feet He kisses and He laves \ 'Tis I, He says, am " safe and sound :" Hence, discontent ; away, regret ; The very worm I will not hate. He's found ; I shall be happy yet ; My Father says, 'Tis not too late. I'll kindlier look on men and grass, With sunny eyes my books I'll view, Along my former way I'll pass, For all things now are very new : I thank thee, Gospel, for that word ; O, I had wandered far around : 1 lost Him in the universe, But in my heart my Father's found. HYMNS FOR HEART AXD VOICE, 169 CXXXVIII. HELP IS SURE. As one who for a letter waits From loving kindred far away, Who dwell at home, still hesitates " They have forgotten me " to say ; Even so will faith our hearts restrain From saying, I have prayed in vain. Could but the eyes that grow so dim Beside a solitary fire, Look forth beyond the horizon's rim, And see the coming ship — Desire ; Up like a flame the heart would leap, Although slow hours their watch must keep. We live by faith, but God by sight ; He sees the heart ; help too He sees, Which, travelling onward through the night, Will on the morrow give us ease ; He prompts the praying to endure, Because his promised help is sure. While the root, locked in slumber fast, Rests through the weary winter-tide, The world speeds on, that God at last His summer's heartsease may provide, And all love's tender prophecies In tenderer blooms may realise. 170 HYMNS FOR HEART AND VOICE. CXXXIX. PATRIOTISM. Together for our Country now we pray ; Give her good speed upon her ancient way ; And for her broadening world a brighter day, Till all men prosper that her laws obey. God save the Queen ! and all of honoured name ! May virtue shine in them with steadfast flame ; Let worthy deeds inspire the tongue of fame, And flaring falsities be quenched in shame. God save the Church ! may all good men combine, As from one root may many branches shine \ And rich in unadulterate loaves and wine, May lessening want and woe declare her Thine. God save the people and their houses all, The thriving, striving, and both great and small ! And let us on thy love with one voice call, When the sun rises, and the shadows fall. CXL. INTERCESSION. We come, but not with sighs alone. Nor only with confession ; Nor but as suppliants to thy throne, To win some new possession ; HYMNS FOR HEART AXD VOICE. 171 But with adoring homage, Lord, And spirit triumphing, To pity rich and wisdom deep A prayerful song we bring. To Thee, sweet mercy's ancient fount, We now come interceding, For spirits more than we can count, Who mercy's help are needing ; No love of men for man with Thine For all men can compare ; And vast and varied as the world, So large shall be our prayer. We pray for glad men and for grieved, That, one another knowing, The sorrowful may be relieved, The happy happier growing ; . For men who wander and who rest, That, venturing from home, The brave may find and rescue those That in the deserts roam. For people who on beds of pain, Or on the waves, are tossing, That they their home or heaven may gain, The seas or river crossing ; For cottagers, who, mid the corn, Have still but scanty store ; And those who toil in wealthy towns, And yet continue poor. 1 72 HYMNS FOR HEART AND VOICE. For men of less or larger trade, The ship's or shoulder's burden, That trust and love and coin be made For them a triple guerdon ; We pray for rulers and the ruled, For teachers and the taught ; For all who weave the triple cord Of art and truth and thought. For busy men of all pursuits, All colours and conditions, That thorny cares may yield sweet fruits, And comforts be physicians ; For all who are for freedom bound, For all who get to give, Or suffer wrong to strengthen right, And die that men may live. For those who, having erred and sinned, Are maddened with their trouble, And think the truth a fickle wind, The solid world a bubble ; Who call eternal life a guess, The Gospel but a tale ; — That hope may blossom in the dust, And penitence prevail. For those whose breath is now a sigh, Whose love with pains is smarting ; For those who soothe the infant's cry, Or watch old age departing • HYMNS FOR HEART AND VOICE. 173 To Thee an ever-widening prayer Adoringly we bring, That strength from weakness, joy from pain, And wealth from want may spring. CXLI. MARRIAGE. Heart with heart and hand in hand, Go upon your way ; Pleasant is the promised land You're entering to-day ; Corn it has and wine, Fields for work and play ; On it love divine Sheds benignant ray. Love the Lord of love, ye two, He has made you one ; He's the home-adviser who Is welcome as the sun ; Shows you by his light What to seek and shun ; Stays beside you quite Till your work is done. Husband, all your husbandry For love's sake pursue ; Wife, let love your magnet be To draw him back to you : i 7 4 HYMNS FOR HEART AND VOICE, Love makes little much When our joys are few, And when most, his touch Gives them golden hue. Heart with heart and hand in hand, O, give thanks and pray ; On a sunny height you stand, A new scene to survey : In your bower of bliss Though you cannot stay, Love need never miss Either work or way. CXLII. INFANT BAPTISM. Praying by the river-side, From the heaven serenely wide, To Thee, Saviour, came the dove, Fullest life of peace and love. And he came not as a guest, Thou art his eternal rest, O, Thou holiest abode Of the inmost life of God. Saviour, now this infant bless As with a divine caress ; Make this little heart thy home, To it with thy spirit come. HYMNS FOR HEART AND VOICE. 175 Soft as water on the brow, Softly, gently, comest Thou ; But hast gifts for every hour, Purity and peace and power. On the dark, tempestuous day, Lord, Thou hastened st not away; But didst face the roughest wind, Carrying forth thy message kind. Faith and hope and holy love, Wings and spirit of the dove, Father, on this babe bestow ; Like the Saviour may he grow. CXLIII. BABY. O baby, He loved pretty things ; " Consider the lilies," said He : Thy mother, she sighs or she sings, But still she's considering thee. O baby, He loved little birds ; " Not one is forgotten," said He Thy mother remembers his words, And comforts herself about thee. 176 HYMNS FOR HEART AND VOICE. In graces, thy mother hath prayed — Since daily her baby she drest — Thou mayst like the flower be arrayed, Which Jesus admired and blest. O, dove, from the heavens that shine, Whose home is his merciful breast : Come visit this baby of mine, My new little bird in its nest. CXLIV. LET CHILDREN COME. Let children come; Love has made all ready ; Our Father's arms How strong they are, how steady : 'Tis He that gives This pure and pleasant water, And to Him lives Each little son and daughter. Let children come; To each heart so tender, Drops as from heaven, Their blessing soft shall render ; Dear budding plant, Thy God for thine unfolding His love will grant, Our love for thee beholding. HYMNS FOR HEART AXD VOICE. 177 Let children come, This our love God gave us, Who gave his Son, From hate and fear to save us ; For all life's thirst Of water He's the river, Who from the first Of pure life is the giver. CXLV. WA VES. My soul, humility her fears have taught her ; She said, " Lord, bid me come upon the water;" And would have sunk, Lord, but Thou didst support her. For, O, the wild -faced waves her path surrounding, Leaped at her, all with wrathful voices sounding ; She failed, she cried, her terrors were confounding. But thy great love her little faith not scorning. Made shame but as a dream, her pride for warning ; Then bade the dream begone, and it was morning. To quell the waves ! such task Thou didst not set her; To toil on them, and trust, for her is better ; And in her perils Thou wilt not forget her. N 178 HYMNS FOR HEART AND VOICE. CXLVI. THE SOWER. O, day of rest for busy men, We welcome thee once more ; And look towards the truth as when The people on the shore Looked towards the Saviour on the lake, A boat the pulpit whence He spake. Lord, bid those wandering winds be still, That rob us of thy word ; Then lessons of thy heavenly will Shall from the boat be heard : The boat, for work and peril made, Says, " Be not idle nor afraid. " Behold the sower comes again, Our heart it is the ground ; He bears the plenteous living grain, And scatters it around : The frequent foot, the stony soil, The ready weeds, his labour spoil. O, blessed owner of the field, Sower of truth alone, Our hearts must love the truth, to yield Its increase as thine own; Therefore, O Lord, prepare our heart To cherish what Thou shalt impart. HYMNS FOR HEART AXD VOICE. 179 True Lord alike of toil and rest, Not yet may labour cease \ So we will work and dare our best, Else on the day of peace Our heart with trouble will be weak When from the boat we hear Thee speak. CXLVII. EXHORTATION. The Lord is rich and merciful, The Lord is very kind ; O, come to Him, come now to Him, With a believing mind. His comforts they shall strengthen thee, Like flowing waters cool ; And He shall for thy spirit be A fountain ever full. The Lord is glorious and strong, Our God is very high ; O, trust in Him, trust now in Him, And have security. He shall be to thee like the sea, And thou shalt surely feel His wind, that bloweth healthily, Thy sicknesses to heal. The Lord is wonderful and wise, As all the ages tell ; 180 HYMNS FOR HEART AND VOICE. O, learn of Him, learn now of Him, Then with thee it is well. And with his light thou shalt be blest, Therein to work and live ; And He shall be to thee a rest When evening hours arrive. CXLVIII. RAIN. One blessing is there of the sun, Another of the rain ; Two blessings better are than one, Though often we complain, And wish the one we have away, Or given to-morrow, not to-day. To-day the pleasant light is less, The busy rain descends, The sky is in its working dress, And needy earth befriends ; But less the light, not less the love, Now all the heaven is dark above. Bright o'er the earth a brazen sky Burnt when the people sinned ; But heaven when their relief was nigh Grew black with clouds and wind ; A mighty rain that mercy sent, Which called the people to repent. HYMNS FOR HEART AX J) VOICE. 181 Too fervently the sun may shine, Rain fall too heavily \ But still their lesson is divine — A better world shall be, Where everything will only bless, And everyone work righteousness. Lord, we are Thine, and Thou art ours, Thine too are sun and rain, And Thou for us their varying powers, Wilt heighten or restrain ; Then be the weather what it will, We trustfully will serve Thee still. CXLIX. MATINS. Creator, lover of the whole, Our prayer for body and for soul, O, hear ; invigorate and control, Within us move. As hidden springs their presence tell, When from within the waters swell, By overflowings of the well, So Thou thy love. The lark ascends on wing so strong, He carols in the heavens long, Then touches earth, and ends his song, Fresh for his care. 1 82 HYMNS FOR HEART AND VOICE. And so to Thee we singing rise And overflow in melodies ; Then downward come refreshed and wise, To work and bear. For us the powerful morning rose, For us the solemn sunset glows How soon ! then darkening heavens disclose Their starry wealth. O, for a heart to sing and serve, A will that not again would swerve ; O, for the thrilling, steadfast nerve Of perfect health ! To study and possess the earth Is ours by privilege of birth ; And ours to find the hidden worth Of nature's store. Ours too the sinew and the limb To climb the height, the depth to swim ; For all we thank Thee in our hymn, Yet ask for more. O heavenly Lord, whose mercy can, By power and prudence of thy plan, Both slay the sins and save the man, So wise thy way ; Now give us of his heart and powers Who chose the thorn, yet loved the flowers, And filled for us the twelve sad hours Of his great day. HYMNS FOR HEART AND VOICE. 183 Ours be the love by which He wept For others' grief, yet onward kept • Nor quailed upon the way, nor slept, To his dark cross. Then on the highway, in the mart, While still we bear a brother's part, We shall compute with heavenly art Our gain and loss. CL. REPLIES. How can I sing ? The sullen hours, With heavy wing And drooping powers, Bear me slowly on, And I fail anon. How can I sing? Of what ? To whom ? Cold shadows cling Round church and tomb ; Thoughts of God and death Stop alike my breath. How can I sing ? The time is gray : Deceiving spring Has passed away : 1 84 HYMNS FOR HEART AND VOICE. Look, the fields are bare, Sown with fruitless prayer. Sing, do but sing ; The kindly hours, With lighter wing And livelier powers, Bear thee swiftly on ; Thou art home anon. Sing, thou must sing, Of life : to God : Dawn will He bring To spire and sod : Thoughts of God and rest Are alike thy best. Sing, thou canst sing, Young-hearted, gay Summer shall fling Thy doubts away : Look, new hopes arise, Seedlings of the skies. CLI. HE A VEN. Arising, we sing To Jesus on high, And give our thoughts wing From earth to the sky ; HYMNS FOR HEART AXD VOICE. 185 Where millions at ease Tell in bright fields of air Of toils on the seas, And of earth with its care. No threat'ning nor taunt Can darken their heart • Upbraiding and vaunt No friendships can part : Time loses his scythe When he enters the skies ; Old people are blithe, And the young ones are wise. None take with a smile But give with a groan ; , None think it worth while To lock up their own : But lovingly, merrily, All the days fly ; And verily, verily, No one shall die. The fruits that were rare Are had for a wish ; Flowers holy and fair Give grace to the dish ; The thistle and thorn As mementos are shown Of griefs that were borne Ere love's triumph was known. 1 86 HYMNS _FOR HEART AND VOICE. Then sing, sing anew, To Jesus above ; His words were all true, His work was all love. With holy behaviour Let trouble be braved, We work with the Saviour, To rest with the saved. The weary shall rest, The sufferers sing ; Those pains are the best Such pleasures that bring. No labour is sorrow But labour in vain , In hope, then, to-morrow We'll labour again. CLII. BIRTH. God of the shining sun, Each little life begun On our dark earth Appears because thy will, Which doth all heaven fill With pleasures free from ill, Allows the birth. HYMNS FOR HEART AND VOICE. 187 Not with unjoyful care Nor with unpraiseful prayer We live below ; Assailed by pain and sin, We yet are born to win The holy heaven wherein No evils grow. God of the peaceful height, Thy word of promise bright Spans the rough sea ; A rainbow fair to view, As broad as bright of hue, And all souls may come through, Travelling to Thee. O Spirit, Father, Son, Thou glorious threefold one, Blest be thy name ; Thy word that must endure, And love for ever pure, And patient power, insu r