Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2007 with funding from Microsoft Corporation http://www.archive.org/details/foresthymnOObryarich J Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year I860, by W. A. TOWNS END AND COMPANY. In tin- Clerk's office of the District Court for the Southern District of New York. C. A. ALVOKD, IT.INTKIi. I GCftfff i^ wiltf wool I I V r I *C groves were God's first tem- ples. Eire man learner! To hew the shaft, and lay the architrave, And spread the roof above them, — ere he framed The lofty vault, to gather and roll back The sound of anthems: in the darkling wood. Amidst the cool and silence, he knelt down, And offered to the Mightiest solemn thanks And supplication. For his simple heart Might not resist the sacred influences. Which, from the stilly twilight of the place, Stole over him, and bowed His spirit with the thought of boundless power And inaccessible majesty. Ah, why Should we, in the world's riper years, neglect God's ancient sanctuaries, and adore Only among the crowd, and under roofs That our frail hands have raised? me, at least, Here, in the shadow of this aired wood, Otter one hymn — thrice happy, if it rind Acceptance in His ear. Father, thy hand Hath reared these venerable columns, thou Didst weave this verdant roof. 10 Upon the naked earth, and, forthwith, rose All these fair ranks of trees. They, in thy sun. Budded, and shook their green leaves in the breeze, And shot towards heaven. UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LitWvto £ century -living crow, Whose birth was in tlieir tops, grew old and died Among their branches, till, at last, they stood, As now they stand, massy, and tall, and dark, Fit shrine for humble worshipper to hold Communion with his Maker. These dim vaults, These winding aisles, 13 f human pomp or pride Report not. No fantastic carvings show The boast of our vain race to change the B Kit thou art here — thou fill'st The solitude. Thou art in the soft winds That run along the summit of these trees In musie ; thou art in the cooler breath That from the inmost darkness of the place Comes, scarcely felt ; jy «n« « M^ If barky trunks, the ground, T he f r e s h moist ground, Are all instinci With thee. ^|V is continual worship ; — nature, bere, In the tranquillity that thou dost love, Enjoys thy presence. 11 ' jP^J i^eWj , around, From perch to perch, the solitary bird Passes: and yon clear spring, that, midst its herbs. Wells softly forth and wandering steeps the roots S 1 half the mighty forest, tells no tale Of all the good it Thou hast not left Thyself without a witness, in these shades, Ot thy perfections. ^ ace randeUi; strength, and grac Are here to speak of thee! This mighty oak- Bv whose immovable stem I stand and seem Almost annihilated — not a prince, In all that proud old world beyond the deep, E'er wore his crown as loftily as lie Wears the green coronal of leaves with which Thv hand has graced him. vm^r". cZr- ■n ' at his root Is beauty, such as blooms not in the glare Of the broad sun. That delicate forest flower With scented breath, and look so like a smiie. Seems, as it issues from the shapeless mould, An emanation of the indwelling Life. A visible token of the up- holding Love. That are the soul of this wide universe. at Ins rool Is beauty, such as blooms nor in the glare Of the broad sun. That delicate forest flower With scented breath, and look so like a smile, Seems, as it issues from the shapeless mould, An emanation of the indwelling Life, A visible token of the up- holding Love, That are the soul of this wide universe. A/i vi heart is awed within me when I think Of the great miracle that still goes on, Ta silence, round me— the perpetual work Of thy creation, finished, yet re- newed Forever. Written on thy works I read The lesson of thy own eternity. all stow old tind die — but see again, I Low on the faltering footsteps of decay Voutli [>resses — ever gay ;mf his aivli-tMK'iny Death — yea, seats himself I'lKin the tyrant's throne — the sepulchre, And of the triumphs of his ghastly foe Makes his own nourishment. For he came forth From thine own bosom, and shall have no end. There have been holy men who hid themselves Deep in the woody wilderness, and gave Their lives to thought and prayer, till they outlived generation born with them, nor seemed Less aged than the hoary trees and rocks Around them; — and tl.eie lave been holy n.tn Who deemed it were not well to pass life thus. But let me often to these solitudes Retire, and in thy presence reassure My feeble virtue. Here its enemies. The passions, at thy plainer footsteps shrink And tremble and are still. Oh, God! when thou D<>st scare the world with tempests, set on fire The heavens with falling thunderbolts, or till, With all the waters of the firmament, V .>■ The swift durk whirlwind that uproots the woods And drowns the villages; when, at thy call, Uprises the great deep, and throws himself Upon the continent, and overwhelms Its cities — 30 at the sight Of these tremen thy power His pride, and and follies Oh, from these Of thy lace Spare me and mi let us need the wrath Of the mad unchained elements to teach Who rules them. Be it ours to meditate, In these calm shades, thy milder majesty, And to the beautiful order of thy works Learn to conform the order of our lives. , im Hi ■ B D ■ ■ B I \t m B I ■ ifei ■ #) , "* ^V\ «fe ^ , \ .;> ;^v. i; j#w / A« lltlijflTiTfflltllitl )! !l!ll!ll £££3&5]&- $£&'