Since the lorn mother, wandering there, Then stole apart to weep and die, Thou wilt-for Thou art Israel's God, Is ready yet with Moses' rod, Out of the dry unfathom'd deep Of sands, that lie in lifeless sleep, These moments of wild wrath are thineThine too the drearier hour When o'er th' horizon's silent line Fond hopeless fancies cower, And on the traveller's listless way Rises and sets th' unchanging day, No cloud in heaven to slake its ray, On earth no sheltering bower. P Hagar. See Gen. xxi. 5. Thou wilt be there, and not forsake, Into a bright and breezy lake, The throbbing brow to cool: Till left awhile with Thee alone The wilful heart be fain to own That He, by whom our bright hours shone, Our darkness best may rule. The scent of water far away Upon the breeze is flung: The desert pelican to-day Securely leaves her young, Reproving thankless man, who fears To journey on a few lone years, Where on the sand thy step appears, Thy crown in sight is hung. Thou, who didst sit on Jacob's well The languid pulses Thou canst tell, St. John iv. 6. Thou from whese cross in anguish burst From darkness, here, and dreariness Only be Thou at hand, to bless Is not the pilgrim's toil o'erpaid St. John xix. 28. THE EPIPHANY. And, lo, the star. which they saw in the east, went before them, till it came and stood over where the young child was. When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceeding great joy. 9, 10. St. Matt. ii. STAR of the East, how sweet art Thou, When father, mother, nursing friend, Most dearly lov'd, and loving best, First bid us from their arms ascend, Pointing to Thee in thy sure rest. Too soon the glare of earthly day By faith and hope in Thee unseen. What matter? if the waymarks sure What matter? if in calm old age With all that cheers a wanderer's eyes? Ne'er may we lose it from our sight, To where it stays its lucid flight There, swath'd in humblest poverty, Will not the long-forgotten glow Of mingled joy and awe return, When stars above or flowers below First made our infant spirits burn? |