Here, upon the paper planted, Stand the Spirit's Garden-Flowers God himself will give them sunshine, Paint their hues, and send them showers. Be their soil the silent heart-ground There may every swelling seed : Burst in Truth, and Power, and Substance; Blooming forth in all who read. THOUGHTS FOR A NEW YEAR, OR (REDLICHER SINN AM NEUJAHRS- ODER GEBURTSTAG.) THUS, then, another year of pilgrim-life, (Not void of dangers, though without sore fall; Not free from heart-wounds, though it brought not death,) Has vanished, with its heavy burdens all! Onward, my spirit; go forth trustingly ; One step awaits thee ere thy course is done. Give me Thy Hand, O Thou, my soul's True Guide! So shall I venture farther to toil on. "Still onward!" is the Christian's watchword here: The pilgrim may not tarry on his road. What can the world bestow upon the heart Whose home is in Eternal Life, and God? My soul immortal yearns for that sweet Life: O give Thy Help, that I to self may die ; Bear Thou me on; thus I my load shall bear : My heart's own God;-Thou Beauty Old and New! |