Yet, though terrors, night and gloom
Wait obedient on thy word,
Though no cheering smiles illume,
Still we trust a faithful God;
Still we anchor on the Rock,
JESUS, our immortal stay;
E'en the weakest of his flock,
He will never cast away.
SWEET orb of night, I saw thee rise
In cloudless lustre o'er the plain,
I saw thee climb the azure skies,
With radiant splendours in thy train.
I marked thy mildly pensive beam
At midnight's still and hallowed hour,
I watched the fitful, lonely gleam
That played on yonder ivied tower.
Sweet orb of night, full oft I love,
When every care and toil is o'er,
To wander 'mid the silent grove,
And there the Source of Light adore:
O then, how false all else appears,
While wrapt in awe thy course I view,
And see thee mount the starry spheres,
And tread the fields of heavenly blue.
Sweet orb of night, when I no more
Shall trace thy lovely, mournful ray,
When freed from earth, my soul shall soar
To scenes of blest ethereal day,-
Should one loved friend bestow a tear
When all is wrapt in solemn gloom,
O guide the maiden to my bier,
And shed thy radiance o'er the tomb.
HAST thou not treasured the amount,
All-wise Creator, of my days?
In thy dread councils are not few
The years appointed man?
Soon I shall lay this weary frame
To rest upon its native bed;
This form, the worm's unconscious prey,
Will slumber peacefully.
Pleasure, ambition,-ah, how frail,
Deceiving, will ye then appear;
Inscribed with luring falsehood all,
All, O my God, but thee.
Why then should folly's passing dream The mind's best energies control?
Why should the world's vain pageantry Allure the soul from heaven?
Why should I sigh when sorrow's cloud, Gathering, obscures life's little day? When disappointment withers hope, Why should I weep?
Teach me, my Maker, earth to prize
As unsubstantial, insincere;
Draw me from time, and bid me soar
To immortality.
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