UNFADING Hope! when life's last embers burn,
When soul to soul, and dust to dust return!
Heaven to thy charge resigns the awful hour,
Oh! then, thy kingdom comes! immortal power!
What though each spark of earth-born rapture fly,
The quivering lip, pale cheek, and closing eye!
Bright to the soul thy seraph-hands convey
The morning dream of life's eternal day;
Then, then, the triumph and the trance begin,
And all the phoenix spirit burns within!
Oh! deep-enchanting prelude to repose,
The dawn of bliss, the twilight of our woes!
Yet half I hear the panting spirit sigh,
It is a dread and awful thing to die!
Mysterious worlds, untravell'd by the sun!
Where time's far-wandering tide has never run,
From your unfathom'd shades and viewless
spheres,
A warning comes, unheard by other ears.
'Tis Heaven's commanding trumpet, long and loud Like Sinai's thunder, pealing from the cloud!
While Nature hears, with terror-mingled trust,
The shock that hurls her fabric to the dust;
And, like the trembling Hebrew, when he trod
The roaring waves, and call'd upon his God,
With mortal terrors clouds immortal bliss,
And shrieks, and hovers o'er the dark abyss!
Daughter of Faith! awake, arise, illume,
The dread unknown, the chaos of the tomb;
Melt and dispel, ye spectre-doubts, that roll
Cimmerian darkness on the parting soul!
Fly, like the moon-eyed herald of dismay,
Chased on his night-steed by the star of day!
The strife is o'er-the pangs of Nature close,
And life's last rapture triumphs o'er her woes.
Hark! as the spirit eyes, with eagle-gaze,
The noon of heaven undazzled by the blaze,
On heavenly winds that waft her to the sky,
Float the sweet tones of star-born melody;
Wild as that hallow'd anthem sent to hail
Bethlehem's shepherds in the lonely vale,
When Jordan hush'd his waves, and midnight still
Watch'd on the holy towers of Zion's hill.
Soul of the just! companion of the dead!
Where is thy home and whither art thou filed!
Back to thy heavenly source thy being goes,
Swift as the comet wheels to whence he rose ;
Doom'd on his airy path a while to burn,
And doom'd, like thee, to travel, and return.
Hark! from the world's exploding centre driv'n
With sounds that shook the firmament of heav'n,
Careers the fiery giant, fast and far,
On bick'ring wheels, and adamantine car;
From planet whirl'd to planet more remote,
He visits realms, beyond the reach of thought,
But, wheeling homeward, when his course is run
Curbs the red yoke and mingles with the sun!
So hath the traveller of earth unfurl'd
Her trembling wings, emerging from the world;
And o'er the path by mortal never trod,
Sprung to her source, the bosom of her God!
Eternal Hope! when yonder spheres sublime
Peal'd their first notes to sound the march of Time,
The joyous youth began-but not to fade-
When all the sister planets have decay'd!
When rapt in fire the realms of ether glow,
And Heav'n's last thunder shakes the world below,
Thou, undismay'd, shalt o'er the ruins smile,
And light thy torch at Nature's funeral pile!
While Nature hears, with terror-mingled trust,
The shock that hurls her fabric to the dust;
And, like the trembling Hebrew, when he trod
The roaring waves, and call'd upon his God,
With mortal terrors clouds immortal bliss,
And shrieks, and hovers o'er the dark abyss!
Daughter of Faith! awake, arise, illume,
The dread unknown, the chaos of the tomb;
Melt and dispel, ye spectre-doubts, that roll
Cimmerian darkness on the parting soul!
Fly, like the moon-eyed herald of dismay,
Chased on his night-steed by the star of day!
The strife is o'er-the pangs of Nature close,
And life's last rapture triumphs o'er her wors
Hark! as the spirit eyes, with eagle-gaze,
The noon of heaven undazzled by the blaze,
On heavenly winds that waft her to the sky,
Float the sweet tones of star-born melody;
Wild as that hallow'd anthem sent to hail
Bethlehem's shepherds in the lonely vale,
When Jordan hush'd his waves, and midnight stil
Watch'd on the holy towers of Zion's hill.
Soul of the just! companion of the dead!
Where is thy home and whither art thou fled!
Back to thy heavenly source thy being goes,
Swift as the comet wheels to whence he rose
Doom'd on his airy path a while to burn,
And doom'd, like thee, to travel, and return.
Hark! from the world's exploding centre driv
With sounds that shook the firmament of bear
Careers the fiery giant, fast and far,
On bick'ring wheels, and adamantine car;
From planet whirl'd to planet more remote,
its realms, beyond the reach of thought
ward, when his course is
SWEET Sabbath morn! from childhood's dimpled
prime
I've lov'd to hail thy calm-renewing time;
Soft steal thy bells upon the tranced mind,
In fairy cadence floating on the wind,
Telling of friends and times long flown away,
And pensive hopes, harmonious with the day.
On thy still dawn, while holy music peals,
And far around the ling'ring echo steals,
What heart communes not with the day's repose,
And, lull'd by angel dreams, forgets its woes;
Who, in His temple, gives to God a prayer,
Nor feels a portrait of bright heaven is there?
The sacred stillness of the vaulted pile,
Where gather'd hearts their homage breathe awhil
The mingled burst of penitential sighs,
The choral anthem pealing to the skies,
Exalt the soul to energies sublime,
And thoughts that reach beyond the realms of time.
TO THE FEELINGS OF OTHERS.
THERE is a plant that in its cell
All trembling seems to stand,
And bends its stalk, and folds its leaves
From each approaching hand:-
And thus there is a conscious nerve
Within the human breast,
That from the rash and careless hand
Sinks and retires distress'd.
The pressure rude, the touch severe,
Will raise within the mind
A nameless thrill, a secret tear,
A torture undefin'd.
Oh, you who are by nature form'd
Each thought refin'd to know!
Repress the word, the glance that wakes
That trembling nerve to woe.
And be it still your joy to raise
The trembler from the shade,
To bind the broken, and to heal
The wound you never made.
Whene'er you see the feeling mind,
Oh, let this care begin;
And though the cell be ne'er so low,
Respect the guest within..
SOURCE of all life, and joy, and light!
Creator of each starry sphere,
That o'er me, on the arch of night,
Gleams, like a diamond, bright and clear. Oh, as I gaze, transported now,
Upon this blue, resplendent dome-
Deign but to hear my prayer, that thou
Wilt call my erring spirit home!
Home from this world's fast fading bowers,
Frail visions, and delusive dreams,
To that fair clime of Eden flowers,
Sweet airs, and softly-gliding streams.
Oh, make me feel that while I stay,
A stranger and sojourner here,
My soul must seek its homeward way
Far, far beyond each starry sphere!
I kneel before thy gorgeous throne,
Upon thy footstool, King of kings!
And, gazing on thy glories strewn
Beneath the Holy Spirit's wings,
Abject and weak, my awe-struck heart
Would from thy dreadful presence flee,
If, Saviour, thou didst not impart
Rays of undying hope to me.
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