FROM THE LIBRARY OF 
 REV. LOUIS FITZGERALD BENSON, D. D. 
 
 BEQUEATHED BY HIM TO 
 
 THE LIBRARY OF 
 
 PRINCETON THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY 
 
 SoiO 
 
Digitized by the Internet Archive 
 
 in 2012 with funding from 
 
 Calvin College 
 
 http://www.archive.org/details/hymnsofmyholyhou68palm 
 
S^jft OF PR/^ 
 
 H Y M N S 
 
 MAY 17 1933 
 
 HOLY HOURS, 
 
 AND OTHER PIECES. 
 
 BY 
 
 RAY PALMER. 
 
 NEW YORK: 
 
 AXSOX D. F. RANDOLPH, 
 
 No. 770 BROADWAY. 
 
 1868. 
 
Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1867, 
 
 By RAY PALMER, 
 
 In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States 
 for the Southern District of New York. 
 
 EDWARD 0. JENKINS, PRINTER, 
 NORTH WILLIAM STREET, NEW YORK. 
 
MRS. ANGELINA PALMER GRIXNELL, 
 
 THE PLAYMATE OF MY CHILDHOOD, AKD THE DISINTERESTED AND 
 CONSTANT FRIEND OF MY RIPER YEARS, THESE PAGES 
 
 ARE INSCRIBED, 
 
 AS A 3LIGHT EXPRESSION OF THE PROFOUND AFFECTION AND 
 GRATITUDE OF HER BROTHER. 
 
 RAY PALMER. 
 
PREFACE 
 
 The writer has had such evidence, from many 
 sources, that a small volume of hymns, published by him 
 some time since, has proved a grateful offering to fellow 
 disciples, not only in his own communion and his own 
 country, but also in other branches of the Church of 
 Christ and in other lands, that he has been encouraged 
 to make this small additional contribution to the 
 hymnology of his time. 
 
 Only a part of the following hymns are suitable to be 
 sung. The remainder are designed to give expression 
 in hymnic form, to the deeper emotions of the devout 
 soul in its various moods, experiences and disciplines. 
 How necessary it is that hymns intended to be used 
 in worship, should be simple and unadorned, should so 
 preserve unity of thought and feeling as to seem artless, 
 and to be easily apprehended, it is evident from current 
 criticism is even now but partly understood. Hymns 
 intended chiefly for reading, however, allow a far 
 
vi PREFACE. 
 
 greater variety of thought and measure, and may take a 
 much wider range. If the following lyrics express truly 
 the healthful emotions of one Christian heart, they will 
 be certain, it is believed, to awaken response in others. 
 Should they assist the faith and love of any in finding 
 fit utterance before God, the highest wish of the 
 author will have been fulfilled. 
 
 The writer feels obliged to add, that if the compilers 
 of Manuals for Public Worship shall desire to in- 
 troduce any of these hymns into their Collections, he 
 cheerfully consents, provided always that the hymns 
 be taken exactly as they are. He repeats, even with 
 greater emphasis than in the preface to the former 
 volume, his protest against the alteration, or abridgment, 
 of the hymns of a living author, to adapt them to the 
 uses or the taste of others, without his consent. He 
 cannot but regard it as a breach, not of courtesy 
 alone, but of Christian morality as well. 
 
 R. P. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 I.- 
 
 — Praise to Christ . 
 
 . 9 
 
 II.- 
 
 —The Soul's Cry . 
 
 11 
 
 III.- 
 
 —The Love that Stoopeth . 
 
 . 13 
 
 IV.- 
 
 —Midnight Worship 
 
 15 
 
 V.- 
 
 —Morning Worship . 
 
 . 18 
 
 VI.- 
 
 —Evening Worship 
 
 20 
 
 VII.- 
 
 —The Hour of Joy . 
 
 . 22 
 
 VIII.- 
 
 -De Profundis 
 
 24 
 
 IX.- 
 
 —The Crown .... 
 
 . 28 
 
 X.- 
 
 —Burdens .... 
 
 30 
 
 XI.- 
 
 —A Present God 
 
 . 33 
 
 XII.- 
 
 —The Vision of Christ 
 
 35 
 
 XIII.- 
 
 —The Comforter 
 
 . 37 
 
 XIV.- 
 
 —The Place of Prayer 
 
 40 
 
 XV.- 
 
 —At the Cross .... 
 
 . 43 
 
 XVI.- 
 
 —The Voice of Christ 
 
 45 
 
 XVII.- 
 
 —Submission .... 
 
 . 47 
 
 XVIII.- 
 
 —Alone with Christ . 
 
 49 
 
 XIX.- 
 
 -The Consenting Heart 
 
 . 52 
 
 XX.- 
 
 -The Victory of Faith 
 
 54 
 
 XXI.- 
 
 —A Nocturn 
 
 57 
 
viii CONTENTS. 
 
 ADDITIONAL PIECES. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 I. — The Sea- Side 63 
 
 II. — Burial Hill 68 
 
 III. — Mount Washington 72 
 
 IV. — Misanthropy, and Response . . 77 
 V. — Chorus of All Saints . . . .81 
 
 VI. — Thanksgiving 85 
 
 VII. —The Sceptic 89 
 
 VIII.— Song — The Wife 91 
 
 IX. — Midsummer Night 94 
 
 X. — The Angel Child 97 
 
 XI. — Song 99 
 
 XII. — The Golden Wedding . . . .101 
 
|)ptns of mg I30I1) paurs 
 
 PRAISE TO CHRIST. 
 
 King of Kings and Lord of Lords.— Rev. xix. 16. 
 
 CHRIST, the Lord of Heaven, to Thee, 
 Clothed with all majesty divine, 
 Eternal power and glory be, 
 Eternal praise of right is thine i 
 
 Reign, Prince of Life, that once thy brow 
 Didst yield to wear the wounding thorn ; 
 
 Reign, throned beside the Father now. 
 Adored the Son of God first-born ! 
 
 From angel hosts that round Thee stand, 
 
 With forms more pure than spotless snow, 
 
 From the bright, burning seraph band. 
 
 Let praise in loftiest numbers flow ! 
 
 (9) 
 
1 HYMNS OF MY HOL Y HO UBS. 
 
 To Thee, the Lamb, our mortal songs, 
 Born of deep, fervent love shall rise ; 
 
 All honor to thy name belongs, 
 
 Our lips would sound it to the skies. 
 
 Jesus ! — all earth shall speak the word ; 
 
 Jesus ! — all heaven resound it still ; 
 Immanuel, Savior, Conqueror, Lord, 
 
 Thy praise the Universe shall fill. 
 
HYMXS OF MY UOL Y HO URS. ] { 
 
 THE SOUL'S CRY. 
 
 I cry nnto Thee daily.— Psalm lxxxvi. 3. 
 
 
 
 H, ever from the deeps 
 Within my soul, oft as I muse alone, 
 Comes forth a voice that pleads in tender tone ; 
 As when one long unblest 
 Sighs ever after rest ; 
 Or as the wind perpetual murmuring keeps. 
 
 I hear it when the day . 
 
 Fades o'er the hills, or 'cross the shimmering sea ; 
 
 In the soft twilight, it is wont to be. 
 Without my wish or will, 
 While all is hushed and still, 
 
 Like a sad plaintive cry heard far away. 
 
 Not even the noisy crowd, 
 That like some mighty torrent rushing down 
 Sweeps clamoring on, this cry of want can drown • 
 
1 2 HYMNS OF MY HOL Y HO UBS. 
 
 But ever in my heart 
 Afresh the echoes start ; 
 I hear them still amidst the tumult loud. 
 
 Each waking morn anew 
 The sense of many a need returns again ; 
 I feel myself a child, helpless as when 
 
 I watched my mother's eye, 
 
 As the slow hours went by, 
 And from her glance my being took its hue. 
 
 I cannot shape my way 
 .Where nameless perils ever may betide, 
 O'er slippery steeps whereon my feet may slide ; 
 
 Some mighty hand I crave 
 
 To hold and help and save, 
 And guide me ever when my steps would stray. 
 
 There is but One, I know, 
 That all my hourly, endless wants can meet ; 
 Can shield from harm, recall my wandering feet ; 
 
 My God, thy hand can feed, 
 
 And day by day can lead 
 Where the sweet streams of peace and safety flow. 
 
HYMNS OF M V IIOL 7 110 URS. \ 3 
 
 THE LOVE THAT STOOPETH. 
 
 What i* maii. that Thou art mindful of him?— Psaxm viii. 4. 
 
 MY God, though far above my thought 
 The wonders of thy being rise ; 
 Though earth itself appears but naught. 
 
 And all the orbs in yonder skies 
 Seem trifles while I think of Thee, 
 Yet Thou dost deign to visit me ! 
 
 Lord, what is man ? Ah, not to him 
 Is due thy coming down to dwell ; 
 
 Thou whose high praise the seraphim 
 Touch their entrancing lyres to tell ; 
 
 Thou comest for no worth of mine, 
 
 ; Tis all of grace and love divine ! 
 
 And I may speak, as speaks a child 
 
 That gazes on a father's face 
 Suffused with love, serenely mild, 
 
1 4 HTMN8 F MY HOL T HO UBS. 
 
 And fair with tenderness and grace ; 
 May lift my eyes without a fear, 
 And know that, speaking, Thou wilt hear. 
 
 Thou wouldst not that my needy soul, 
 For what might ease its inward pain, 
 
 From clime to clime, from pole to pole, 
 O'er the wide world should seek in vaia 
 
 Should burn with deep, intense desires, 
 
 As one consumed with hidden fires. 
 
 Thou bidst me come my thirst to slake 
 At the full fountains of thy love ; 
 
 And Thou my soul dost fill and make 
 Content and glad like those above ; 
 
 For with thy gifts enriched and blest, 
 
 My search is o'er, and found ray rest. 
 
HYMNS OF MY HOL Y HO URS. 1 5 
 
 MIDNIGHT WORSHIP. 
 
 At midnight I will rise to give thanks unto Thee.— Psalm cxix. 62. 
 
 U f\ UNSLEEPING! ever keeping 
 
 \J Faithful watch about my bed, 
 O'er me bending, and defending 
 
 From all ill my weary head ; 
 Now each restless thought composing, 
 And in peace these eyelids closing, 
 
 Father, keep my soul," I said. 
 
 Thou didst hear me, Thou art near me, 
 
 Waking at this midnight hour ; 
 Changing never, loving ever, 
 
 Thou art my defence, my tower ; 
 Thoughts of Thee dispel all sadness, 
 Thoughts of Thee give strength and gladness, 
 
 And I rest upon thy power. 
 
1 6 HYMNS OF MY HOL Y HO UBS. 
 
 Purely glowing, stars are throwing 
 Glad rays through the solemn night, 
 
 Ever gleaming, as if beaming, 
 With thy glory on my sight ; 
 
 By their order and their beauty, 
 
 Thou dost teach me love and duty, 
 Bid me shine with virtue's light. 
 
 Praises bringing, upward springing, 
 Mounts my quickened soul to Thee ; 
 
 Hope fulfilling, passion stilling, 
 Thou dost come, my God, to me ! 
 
 And in holy, sweet communing, 
 
 All my noblest powers attuning, 
 Thou dost teach me thine to be. 
 
 Nightly waking, from me shaking, 
 Slumbers soft, I will arise ; 
 
 Bowing lowly, Most Holy, 
 I will lift to Thee mine eyes ; 
 
 So shall speed my warm devotion, 
 
 Winged by tender, pure emotion, 
 Upward through the midnight skies. 
 
HYMNS OF MY HOL Y HOURS 17 
 
 Ever living, ever giving 
 
 Life and joy to all thine own ; 
 Interceding, a? once bleeding, 
 
 Priest and Lamb before the throne ; 
 Thou my prayer presentest ever. 
 Thou my praise refusest never, 
 
 Christ, I trust in Thee alone ! 
 
 So while praying, calmly saying 
 " Father, bless me from above I" 
 
 So believing and receiving 
 
 Gifts of grace and smiles of love, 
 
 I again mine eyelids closing, 
 
 And till dawn in peace reposing, 
 All thy faithfulness shall prove. 
 
 2 
 
1 8 HYMNS OF MY HOL Y 110 UBS. 
 
 MORNING WORSHIP. 
 
 My voice shaft Thou hear in the morning, O Lord.— Psalm v. 3. 
 
 1 RATHER, while the shades of night 
 Fly before the crimson dawn, 
 Heavenward speeds my soul her flight, 
 Gladdened by the day new born. 
 
 Nature, fresh enrobed and fair, 
 Greets me with her kindly smile, 
 
 And I breathe the fragrant air, 
 Drinking in thy love the while. 
 
 All thy works are full of Thee ! 
 
 Glows my heart with living praise ; 
 Lowly bends the reverent knee, 
 
 Upward waiting eyes I raise. 
 
 While from garden, field and grove, 
 
 Morning carols wake around, 
 Swift my thoughts ascend and rove 
 
 Where eternal songs resound. 
 
HYMNS OF MY HOL Y 110 URS \ 9 
 
 With the wide creation's choir, 
 
 My rapt soul would chant her hymn, 
 
 Kindling with the holy fire, 
 Of the burning seraphim. 
 
 Light of men. when forth shall break 
 Thy full splendor, dimmed so long, 
 
 Earth one hymn of praise shall wake, 
 Ages the glad strain prolong. 
 
 Son of God, Redeemer, Lord, 
 All thy goodness none can tell ; 
 
 When thy gifts I would recall, 
 High as heaven the numbers swell. 
 
 Through all labors of this day. 
 
 Let thy hand sustain me still ; 
 Through all perils guard my way, 
 
 Make me strong to do thy will. 
 
 Let my day dawn calm and bright, 
 
 Where no eye forever weeps ; 
 Where forever comes no night, 
 
 Where eternal sunshine sleeps. 
 
20 HYMNS OF MY HOLY HOURS. 
 
 EVENING WORSHIP. 
 
 At evening-time it shall be light.— Zech. xiv. 7. 
 
 COME, Jesus, with the coming night, 
 Refresh and cheer my weary heart ; 
 At evening-time it shall be light, 
 
 If Thou art near, though day depart. 
 
 Welcome this shade that brings release 
 From hurrying labor's noise and strife ; 
 
 That calls from restless thought to cease, 
 And calms the throbbing pulse of life. 
 
 From tedious toil, from anxious care. 
 
 Dear Lord, I turn again to Thee ; 
 Thy presence and thy smile to share, 
 
 Makes every burden light to me. 
 
HYMNS OF MY HOLY HOURS. 
 
 With Thee, of all sad thoughts beguiled, 
 Peace nestles in my tranquil breast ; 
 
 And like a pleased and happy child, 
 In thy kind arms I sink to rest. 
 
 Till night's dark watches all are gone, 
 faithful Shepherd, guard my sleep, 
 
 And when yon mountains greet the dawn, 
 Give strength my heavenward way to keep. 
 
22 HTMXS OF MY HOL T HO URS. 
 
 THE HOUR OF JOY. 
 
 Thou hast put gladness in my heart.— Psalm iv. 7. 
 
 ALL tilings to mine eyes are bright ; 
 Throbs my heart with deep delight ; 
 Birds pour forth delicious notes, 
 Fragrance on the still air floats, 
 Earth and heaven seem full of gladness, 
 And my soul forgets all sadness, 
 Glows and quivers with the thrill 
 Of the joy that cloth it fill. 
 
 Swift-winged thought exults to range, 
 Fancy, as with magic change, 
 Makes e'en ugliness look fair, 
 Finds fresh beauty everywhere ; 
 Life itself is one pure pleasure, 
 Tasted without mete or measure ; 
 Of whatever could make her blest, 
 My glad soul seems now possest. 
 
 Upward, upward, strong and free, 
 Borne on wings I seem to be ; 
 
ETJTXS OF MY IIOLY HOURS. 
 
 Uneonfincd by earthly bars, 
 Soars my spirit to the stars ; 
 E'en beyond the starry regions, 
 Filled with orbs in countless legions, 
 Mounts she with untiring wings, 
 Mounts and evermore she sings. 
 
 Whence this ecstasy divine ? 
 Why so rapt this soul of mine ? 
 my God, with warm desire 
 Thou didst set my heart on fire : 
 Then thy love and goodness showing. 
 And thy light around me throwing. 
 Thou didst give Thyself to me, 
 Thou hast made me glad in Thee. 
 
 Thou art of all joy the crown ; 
 Thou with joy canst sorrow drown ; 
 Let me drink forevermore 
 At the well-spring running o'er ; 
 In thy smile is sadness never, 
 In thy smile is gladness ever, 
 To thy child, Father, give 
 Ever in thy love to live ! 
 
24 MYMJYS OF MY HOL Y HO UR8. 
 
 DE PROFUNDIS. 
 
 Out of the depths have I cried unto Thee, O Lord !— Psalm cxxx. 
 
 1 
 
 N the dark days of grief, 
 When the dull hours drag wearily 
 and slow, 
 When from the brimming eyes hot tears do flow, 
 Where, where to find relief, 
 Shall the bruised spirit go ! 
 
 I see the world rush on j 
 Each, passion-stirred, intent to reach his end ; 
 All, nerved for life's high prizes to contend, 
 
 Glide by me and are gone ; 
 
 No healing can they lend. 
 
 Voices of mirth I hear ; 
 But these chase not the gloom thick brooding o'er, 
 Nor calm the billows that about me roar ; 
 
 They jar upon mine ear, 
 
 And wound me but the more. 
 
HYMNS OF MY I/o/. V HOURS. 25 
 
 I look on Nature's face, 
 The groves, and summer fields, and lawns and 
 
 streams, 
 All beautiful as visions seen in dreams ; 
 
 But Nature's smile and grace 
 
 To mock my anguish seems. 
 
 The silent woods I tread, 
 Where aisles invite with oak and beech o'erhung, 
 And sweet wild notes by many a bird are sung ; 
 
 The still cool paths I thread, 
 
 But yet my heart is wrung. 
 
 To friendship's breast I fly ; 
 Of its deep tenderness I own the power, 
 More gently throbs my brow for one short hour, 
 
 But ere my tears are dry, 
 
 Falls a returning shower. 
 
 Jesus, Thou hast wept ; 
 When faithful hearts mourned o'er a brother 
 dead : 
 
26 HYMNS OF M Y HOL Y HO UBS. 
 
 For mortal griefs thine own pure tears were 
 shed ; 
 
 And ever Thou hast kept 
 
 Kind watch o'er hearts that bled. 
 
 Since Thou art Love Divine, 
 And deep compassions in thy bosom glow, 
 This heart whose anguish Thou alone canst know, 
 Would all to Thee resign, 
 And trust Thee though laid low. 
 
 My spirit Thou canst heal ; 
 Canst give me patience while I wait for light, 
 Bid cheerful day smile on my starless night, 
 And peace canst make me feel, 
 While yet tears dim my sight. 
 
 On Thee, let me lean ; 
 As if on thine own bosom let me weep, 
 Till restless sorrow there is lulled to sleep — 
 
 Sleep gentle and serene 
 
 If Thou my slumber keep. 
 
HTMN8 OF MY HOLY HOURS. 27 
 
 To joy then shall I wake, 
 
 And, taught new trust, with constant, loving 
 heart, 
 
 To Thee shall cling, nor bear again to part, 
 Till heaven's bright dawn shall break 
 And bring me where Thou art. 
 
28 HYMNS OF M Y HOL Y HO UBS. 
 
 THE CROWN. 
 
 There is laid up for me a crown. — 2 Tim. iv. 8. 
 
 rpHE crowns of earth are jewelled dust, 
 J- Or weights, the wearer's brow to press ; 
 But Thou, Christ, dost give the just 
 A nobler crown of righteousness. 
 
 That crown, of thine own love the seal, 
 On thine a gift of love bestowed, 
 
 Diviner splendors shall reveal 
 
 Than e'er on princely head hath glowed. 
 
 Ten thousand faithful souls and true 
 
 Now wear the crown, that wore thy shame ; 
 
 That many a wasting anguish knew, 
 And as through fires to glory came. 
 
 We yet must wage the long drawn strife, 
 And oft with prayers our groans ascend ; 
 
HYMNS OF MY HOLY HOURS. 29 
 
 We battle for immortal life, 
 
 Give Btrength and courage to the end. 
 
 Then be it ours to hear Thee say, 
 
 When we shall lay our armor down — 
 
 " The faith ye kept ! Ye won the day ! 
 Come, take and wear the matchless crown !' ; 
 
30 HYMNS OF MY HOL Y HO UBS, 
 
 BURDENS. 
 
 Cast thy burden upon the Lord.— Psalm lv. 22. 
 
 EVER as I onward go 
 Through the mazy round of life, 
 Days and years with struggles rife, 
 Wearily I tread and slow ; 
 Oft my spirit falters, faints, 
 Oft breathes out her sad complaints. 
 
 Guilt's huge burden weighs me down, 
 
 Pressing heavily and sore ; 
 
 Till thy face, dear Lord, no more 
 Glows with smiles • Thou seem'st to frown, 
 Though I long thy grace to prove, 
 Though I know that Thou art Love ! 
 
 Oft thou chafes t, haggard Care! 
 Wearing, wasting, day by day, 
 Thou each rising joy dost slay 
 
BTATXS OF MY HOL Y 110 URS. 3 1 
 
 That my soul would upward bear ; 
 Thou dost clog my heavenward flight, 
 Spoil my Bpirit of her might. 
 
 Leaden Grief, thou pressest hard, 
 When have sped the shafts of fate, 
 When my heart bleeds, desolate, 
 
 And by many an arrow scarred ; 
 
 When on sorrow's sea long tost, 
 
 All the lights of hope are lost. 
 
 Dark thou broodest o'er my soul. 
 
 Gloomy Doubt, when hidden lie, 
 
 Locked in awful mystery. 
 God's deep counsels, and the scroll 
 Sleeps unopened till the time 
 When goes forth his word sublime. 
 
 Thou, spectre-loving Fear, 
 All too oft hast o'er me flung, 
 Terrors that like rocks have hung, 
 
 Sinking every thought of cheer ; 
 
 Till a ship I seemed to be, 
 
 Foundering in the far-off sea. 
 
32 HYMNS OF MY HOL Y HO UBS. 
 
 Yet I bear a Father's voice : 
 " I, Jehovah, am thy strength ; 
 All thy burdens bring, at length, 
 
 Cast on me — then go, rejoice ! 
 
 Make thy days with songs resound, 
 
 Rest in holy peace profound !" 
 
 Yes, my God ; away — away 
 Haunting unbelief and gloom ! 
 Vanish, and for joy give room, 
 
 Joy of faith, while now I pray ; 
 
 Henceforth sweetly on thy breast 
 
 Love Eternal, will I rest ! 
 
HYMNS OF MY IIOL Y HO URS. 33 
 
 A PRESENT GOD. 
 
 In thy presence is fulness of joy; at thy right hand there are 
 pleasures for evermore.— Psalm xvi. 11. 
 
 SMILE, my God, on me ; 
 Thy presence let me feel ; 
 My soul thy glory longs to see, 
 Thyself in me reveal. 
 
 I would not wait for Heaven ; 
 
 Heaven may begin below ; 
 To every new-born soul 'tis given 
 
 A present God to know. 
 
 The vision of thy face 
 
 Fresh life and joy inspires ; 
 While o'er my spirit flows the grace 
 
 That kindles all her fires. 
 
 Though on my saddened heart, 
 The gloom of night should lie, 
 3 
 
34 HYMNS OF MY HOL Y HO UBS 
 
 Faith shall not fail nor hope depart, 
 If I but feel Thee nigh. 
 
 When earth's fleet years are past, 
 And I no more shall roam, 
 
 Give me, my God, to find at last 
 "With Thee my changeless home. 
 
 Then shall my blessed soul, 
 At fountains gushing o'er, 
 
 While circling ages ceaseless roll, 
 Drink pleasures evermore. 
 
HYMNS OF MY HOLY HOURS. 
 
 THE VISION OF CHRIST. 
 
 Then face to face.— 1 Corinthians xiii. 12. 
 
 CHRIST, I long to know Thee 
 As Thou art known above ; 
 Long, face to face, to show Thee, 
 
 In faultless praise, my love ; 
 But Thou thyself now hides t 
 
 Beyond my feeble sense, 
 Though all my steps Thou guiclest, 
 Thine arm my sure defense. 
 
 Overpowering is the splendor 
 
 About the unveiled throne ; 
 Where bright archangels render 
 
 A service all their own ; 
 That glory sight confounding, 
 
 Those wonders rich and rare, 
 The anthems high resounding, 
 
 This mortal could not bear. 
 
36 HYMNS F MY IIOL Y HO UR8. 
 
 Yet Lord, to see Thee, pining, 
 
 In thought I oft ascend, 
 And where thy hosts are shining, 
 
 I, too, before Thee bend ; 
 As one in rapture dreaming, 
 
 Celestial bliss I feel, 
 And in that moment's seeming, 
 
 Glow with a seraph's zeal. 
 
 When from this dream awaking, 
 
 A weary pilgrim still, 
 Sloth from my spirit shaking, 
 
 With fixed, unfaltering will, 
 My soul in courage stronger, 
 
 Holds on her toilsome way, 
 Content to watch yet longer, 
 
 Till dawns the wished-for day. 
 
HYMNS OF Ml HOLY HOURS. 37 
 
 THE COMFORTER. 
 
 I will yeno* Him unto you.— Joh^ xn. 7. 
 
 
 
 HOLY Comforter, 
 I hear 
 
 Thy blessed name with throbbing heart, 
 Pressed oft with sorrow, sin, and fear, 
 And pierced with many a vcnomed dart ; 
 Come, Messenger divine, 
 Come, cheer this heart of mine ! 
 
 Holy Comforter, 
 I know 
 Thou art not to dull sense revealed, 
 Thou com'st unseen as the sweet flow 
 Of the soft wind that woos the field ; 
 Breathe, Messenger divine, 
 Breathe on this soul of mine 
 
38 HYMNS OF MY HOL Y HO UES. 
 
 Holy Comforter, 
 Thy light 
 Is light eternal and serene ; 
 Shine Thou, and on my ravished sight 
 Visions shall break of things unseen ; 
 Come Messenger divine, 
 Make these bright glimpses mine ! 
 
 Holy Comforter, 
 Thy love 
 O'erfloweth as the flooding sea ; 
 Give me its tenderness to prove, 
 Then shall my heart o'erflow to Thee ; 
 Come, Messenger divine, 
 Fill Thou this breast of mine ! 
 
 Holy Comforter, 
 Thy grace 
 Is life and health and hope and power ; 
 By this I can each cross embrace, 
 Can triumph in the darkest hour ; 
 Come, Messenger divine, 
 The strength of grace be mine ! 
 
HYMN8 OF MY IIOLY HOURS. \\\\ 
 
 Holy Comforter, 
 Thy peace, 
 The peace of God, impart and keep 
 Unruffled till life's tumults cease, 
 And all its angry tempests sleep ; 
 
 Come, Messenger divine, 
 
 Thy perfect peace be mine 1 
 
40 HTMJSTS OF MY HOLY HOURS. 
 
 THE PLACE OF PRAYER 
 
 Enter into thy closet.— Matthew vi. 0. 
 
 
 
 EVER sacred spot, 
 Where clamor cometh not, 
 Where earth may be forgot, 
 And peaceful stillness undisturbed may reign ; 
 I joy that I may know 
 Such holy calm below, 
 Nor feel life's restless flow, 
 When thy sweet solitude well pleased I gain. 
 
 While lowly here I kneel, 
 
 My God, thy love reveal, 
 
 And give thy child to feel 
 A Father's blessing falling on his head ; 
 
 I see thy smile benign, 
 
 I hear Thee call me Thine, 
 
 For Thee I all resign, 
 And evermore would by thy will be led. 
 
I1VMXS OF M V EOL Y HOURS. \ \ 
 
 Hither, Christ, I flee, 
 
 That I by faith may see 
 
 Thy face unveiled to me, 
 And all the secrets of my heart may tell ; 
 
 May lean upon thy breast, 
 
 Lull all my fears to rest, 
 
 And, — joy of joys the best, — 
 Hear thy loved voice known to my soul so well. 
 
 Tell Thou my longing heart, 
 Dear Lord, that mine Thou art ; 
 Then all afresh shall start 
 
 The tears of grateful tenderness and love ; 
 Give me that precious stone 
 That bears a name unknown, 
 The pledge that Thou wilt own 
 
 And make me to behold thv face above. 
 
 Oft as I enter here, 
 Great Comforter, be near 
 My wrestling soul to cheer, 
 Let thy best gifts and graces all be mine ; 
 
4 2 HYMNS OF MY HOL Y 110 UBS. 
 
 In Thine own perfect light, 
 give me visions bright 
 Of things beyond nry sight ; 
 Fill my whole being with the life divine 1 
 
UYMXS OF MY HOLY HOURS [:] 
 
 AT THE CROSS. 
 
 I am crucified with Christ.— Gal. ii. 20. 
 
 JESUS, sweet the tears I shed, 
 While at thy cross I kneel, 
 Gaze on thy wounded, fainting head, 
 And all thy sorrows feel. 
 
 My heart dissolves to see Thee bleed, 
 This heart so hard before ; 
 
 I hear Thee for the guilty plead, 
 And grief o'erflows the more. 
 
 'Twas for the sinful thou didst die, 
 
 And I a sinner stand ; 
 What love speaks from thy dying eye, 
 
 And from each pierced hand ! 
 
 I know this cleansing blood of thine, 
 Was shed, dear Lord, for me ; 
 
44 HYMNS F MY HOL Y HO UJRS. 
 
 For me, for all — grace divine ! — 
 Who look by faith on Thee. 
 
 Christ of God! spotless Lamb! 
 
 By love my soul is drawn ; 
 Henceforth forever thine I am, 
 
 Here life and peace are born. 
 
 In patient hope the cross I'll bear, 
 Thine arm shall be my stay ; 
 
 And Thou, enthroned, my soul shalt spare, 
 On thy great judgment-day. 
 
HYMNS OF MY HOL T HOURS \:> 
 
 THE VOICE OF CHRIST. 
 
 Peace— be still.— Mark iv. 39. 
 
 AMID the darkness, when the storm, 
 Swept fierce and wild o'er Galilee, 
 Was seen of old, dear Lord, thy form, 
 
 All calmly walking on the sea ; 
 And raging elements were still, 
 Obedient to thy sovereign will. 
 
 So on life's restless, heaving wave, 
 
 When night and storm my sky o'ercast, 
 
 Oft hast Thou come to cheer and save, 
 Hast changed my fear to joy at last ; 
 
 Thy voice hath bid the tumult cease, 
 
 And soothed my throbbing heart to peace.. 
 
 But ah ! too soon my fears return, 
 And dark mistrust disturbs anew ;. 
 
4G HYMNS OF MY IIOL Y HO URS. ' 
 
 What smothered fires within yet burn ! 
 
 My days of peace, alas, how few ! 
 These heart-throes — shall they ne'er be past ? 
 These strifes — shall they forever last? 
 
 I heed not danger, toil, nor pain, 
 
 Care not how hard the storm may beat, 
 
 If in my heart thy peace may reign, 
 And faith and patience keep their seat ; 
 
 If strength divine may nerve my soul, 
 
 And love my every thought control. 
 
 may that voice that quelled the sea, 
 And laid the surging waves to rest, 
 
 Speak in my spirit, set me free 
 
 From passions that disturb my breast ; 
 
 Jesus, I yield me to thy will, 
 
 And wait to hear thy " Peace, be still !" 
 
H F WXS OF MT TIOL T BO 67?.* I V 
 
 SUBMISSION. 
 
 Tby will be done.— Matthew xxvi. 42. 
 
 THY holy will, my God, be mine : 
 1 yield my all to Thee ; 
 Xo more shall thought or wish repine 
 What e'er my lot shall be. 
 
 Thy wisdom is a mighty deep. 
 Beyond my thought thy grace, 
 
 My soul shall lay her fears asleep. 
 Secure in thine embrace. 
 
 When clouds and darkness rule the hour, 
 
 Thy bow on high I see ; 
 And e'en the rending tempest's power. 
 
 Shall work but good for me. 
 
 At every step mine eyes shall turn 
 To watch thy guiding hand ; 
 
48 HYMNS F MY EOL Y BO UB8. 
 
 My dearest wish shall be to learn 
 And do thy pure command. 
 
 On Thee I rest my trusting soul 
 Thou wilt not let me fall ; 
 
 Though surging billows o'er me roll, 
 I shall be safe through all. 
 
 Grant me, my God, at last to hear, 
 Well pleased, the call to die, 
 
 And 'mid the shades, with vision clear, 
 To see my Saviour nigh. 
 
 Then when thy glory breaks on me, 
 
 All radiant as the sun ; 
 Be this the joy of heaven — to see 
 
 Thy will forever done ! 
 
HYMNS OF MY HOLY HOI 49 
 
 ALONE WITH CHRIST. 
 
 I will come to you.— John xiv. 18. 
 
 ALONE with Thee ! Alone with Thee ! 
 Friend divine ! 
 Thou Friend of friends to me most dear, 
 Though all unseen I feel Thee near, 
 And with the love that knows no fear, 
 I call Thee mine. 
 
 Alone with Thee ! Alone with Thee ! 
 
 Now through my breast 
 There steals a breath like breath of balm, 
 That healing brings and holy calm, 
 That soothes like chanted song, or psalm, 
 
 And makes me blest. 
 
 Alone with Thee ! Alone with Thee ! 
 
 Thy grace more sweet 
 Than music in the twilight still, 
 Than airs that groves of spices fill, 
 
50 HYMNS OF MY IIOL Y HO URS. 
 
 More fresli than dews on Hermon's hill, 
 My soul doth greet. 
 
 Alone with Thee ! Alone with Thee ! 
 
 In thy pure light 
 The splendid pomps and shews of time, 
 The tempting steeps that pride would climb, 
 The peaks where glory rests sublime, 
 
 Pale on my sight. 
 
 Alone with Thee ! Alone with Thee ! 
 
 My softened heart 
 Floats on the flood of love divine, 
 Feels all its wishes drowned in Thine, 
 Content that every good is mine 
 
 Thou canst impart. 
 
 Alone with Thee ! Alone with Thee ! 
 
 I want no more 
 To make my earthly bliss complete, 
 Than oft my Lord unseen to meet ; 
 For sight I wait till tread my feet 
 
 Yon glistering shore. 
 
HYMNS OF MY 110 L Y HOURS 
 
 Alone with Thee! Alone with The*? ! 
 
 There not alone. 
 Bol with all saints, the mighty throng, 
 My soul unfettered, pure and strong. 
 Her high communings shall prolong, 
 
 Before thy throne. 
 
52 HYMNS OF MY HOLY HO UBS. 
 
 THE CONSENTING HEART. 
 
 Come unto me.— Math. xi. 28. 
 
 YES, kind Saviour, grieving 
 O'er the sad past, 
 All my vain hopes leaving, 
 Come I at last ; 
 Thine — thine I am, 
 bleeding Lamb ; 
 To thy heart receiving, 
 Hold Thou me fast. 
 
 On thy word relying. 
 
 Safe let me rest, 
 All my tears now drying 
 On thy dear breast ; 
 Dawnr. the sweet day, 
 Bright o'er my way, 
 Eoes and fears all flying, 
 Here I am blest. 
 
HYMNS OF MT HOLT HOURS. 
 
 All my footsteps heeding, 
 
 Shield me from ill, 
 In green pastures feeding, 
 By waters still j 
 Always with Thee, 
 Lord, let me be ; 
 Thou all kindly leading. 
 Thine be my will. 
 
 When — life's last day ending, — 
 
 Dark death is nigh, 
 Jesus, o'er me bending. 
 Note my last sigh ; 
 In that dread hour, 
 Strong in thy power, 
 On swift wing ascending, 
 Home let me fly ! 
 
54 HYMNS OF MY HOL Y HO UBS. 
 
 THE VICTORY OF FAITH. 
 
 Thanks be unto God that giveth us the victory through our Lord 
 Jesus Christ.— 1 Corinthians xvi. 57. 
 
 W 
 
 HY should these eyes be tearful 
 For years too swiftly fled ? 
 And why these feet be fearful 
 
 The onward path to tread ? 
 Why should a chill come o'er me 
 
 At thoughts of death as near ? 
 Or when I see before me 
 
 The silent gates appear ? 
 
 Behold my Savior dying ! 
 
 I hear his parting breath ; 
 Entombed I see him lying, 
 
 A captive held of death ; 
 Yet peacefully he slecpeth, 
 
 No foe disturbs him now, 
 And love divine still keepeth 
 
 Its impress on his brow. 
 
JIY.VXs OF MY HOLY HOURS 
 
 But lo ! the seal is broken ! 
 
 Rolled back the mighty -tone ; 
 In vain was >ct the token 
 
 That friend and foe should own ; 
 The weeping Mary bending, 
 
 Sees not her Savior there ; 
 But sons of light attending, 
 
 A joyful message bear. 
 
 The Lord is risen ! — He liveth 
 
 The first-born from the dead ; 
 To Him the Father giveth 
 
 To be creation's head ; 
 O'er all forever reigning, 
 
 Of death He holds the keys, 
 And hell — his might constraining — 
 
 Obeys his high decrees. 
 
 Flies now the gloom that shaded 
 The vale of death to me ; 
 
 The terrors that invaded 
 Are lost, O Christ, in Thee ! 
 
5G HYMNS OF MY IIOL Y HO TIES. 
 
 The grave, no more appalling, 
 
 Invites me to repose ; 
 Asleep in Jesus falling, 
 
 To rise as Jesus rose. 
 
 Oh, when to life awaking, 
 
 The night forever gone, 
 My soul, this dust forsaking, 
 
 Puts incorruption on ; 
 Lord, in thy lustre shining, 
 
 In thine own beauty drest, 
 My sun no more declining, 
 
 Thy service be my rest ! 
 
nYMNS OF MY 110 L T 110 UBS. 5 7 
 
 NOCTURN* 
 
 Enter into thy closet, and shut thy door.— Matthew vi. 6. 
 
 I SIT in my silent chamber, 
 And my spirit mounts in thought ; 
 Dear hour of divine communion, 
 
 That oft a deep joy hath wrought ! 
 And lo ! as in holy vision, 
 
 The heavens unfold above, 
 And there fall bright beams of glory, 
 There is breathed the breath of love. 
 
 I see, through the amber portal, 
 The angels of God descend ; 
 
 1 God's Host' — they are swift of pinion, 
 And ever his saints attend ; 
 
 * I have thought it best to insert this piece here, because it is hyra- 
 nic in its spirit and is in keeping with what has gone before. It ih 
 however rather a night meditation than a hymn. 
 
58 EYMN8 OF MY UOL Y HO URS. 
 
 I hear the celestial chorus, 
 
 Harps touched with divinest skill, 
 
 Tones sweeter than breathing zephyrs, 
 That on my hushed soul distil. 
 
 The praise of the Holiest hymning, 
 
 The skies with the song resound ; 
 The stars seem to join their voices, 
 
 As they float in the dark profound ; 
 And the loving Father of spirits, 
 
 Though ruling all worlds the while, 
 To the ' Sons of God 7 doth hearken, 
 
 And sheddeth on them his smile ! 
 
 Ay, Lord, thou bende3t yet lower ; 
 
 The voices of earth dost hear ; 
 Dost catch each sigh of contrition, 
 
 Dost note each glistening tear ; 
 My praise is to thee as incense, 
 
 For prayer thou return est grace ; 
 Not now may these eyes behold thee, 
 
 But I feel thy blest embrace. 
 
HYMNS OF I/)' HOI V HOURS. 
 
 Why— why should I envy seraphs, 
 
 That they stand so near the throne, 
 If here thou dost deign to meet me, 
 
 If here dost thyself make known ? 
 If now in these evening shadow-. 
 
 This stillness of dying day. 
 My Bonl may drink of thy falness 
 
 Till won from her Griefs away ? 
 
 My God, thy secret is with me, 
 
 A secret I ne'er can tell ; 
 'Tis life, 'tis peace, 'tis a rapture, 
 
 When with mc thou corn's t to dwell ; 
 While the twilight shades grow deeper. 
 
 As -preadeth her wings the night, 
 On me there falleth thy splendor, 
 
 And all is serenely bright. 
 
 My finite and feeble spirit 
 
 With thine the Infinite blends. 
 
 Till with Heaven's own bliss o'erflowing, 
 Her weary, vain quest she ends ; 
 
60 HYMNS OF MY HOL Y HO URS. 
 
 As if on thy bosom lying, 
 
 She findeth her wished-for rest, 
 
 By Eternal Arms enfolded : 
 Have ye more than this, ye blest ? 
 
 Ah yes, ye spirits immortal, 
 
 Ye are not to sense confined ; 
 No law in your faultless being, 
 
 When ye long to soar, doth bind • 
 And I too, at length ascending, 
 
 From sense forever set free, 
 Shall God-ward cleave the bright azure, 
 
 As glad and as pure as ye ! 
 
 My feet shall tread the fair city 
 
 Adorned as a beautiful bride ; 
 Shall come to the living fountains. 
 
 And walk by the crystal tide ; 
 To the loved again united, 
 
 Once lost amidst tears and pain, 
 I shall know the full affection 
 
 For which T have yearned in vain. 
 
HYMN8 OF MY EOL F ll'TRS. 61 
 
 I Bhall then, with undimmed vision, 
 
 See what had been hid before ; 
 From wonder onward to wonder, 
 
 Forever mount up and adore ; 
 If on earth thy works have charmed me, 
 
 What raptures shall fill me there, 
 When I gaze on spotless beauty, 
 
 Than all I had dreamed more fair ! 
 
 Oh, then on the throne whose brightness 
 
 Outshineth yon blazing sun, 
 The Head of the whole creation, 
 
 I shall see the Crucified One ! 
 Where night spreads no more her shadow, 
 
 I, amidst the ineffable glow, 
 Shall live on his smile forever, 
 
 And ALL THAT He IS SHALL KXOW ! 
 
^bbitional jpicccs. 
 
 1 
 
 THE SEA-SIDE. 
 
 SIT beside thee, murmuring sea, 
 
 And watch thy ever changeful motion ; 
 Note where soft clouds float over thee, 
 
 And where commingle sky and ocean ; 
 White sails are scattered here and there, 
 
 Of swift ships o'er thy bosom gliding, 
 That in the hazy, shimmering air, 
 
 Move dream-like on the wave dividing. 
 
 I mark where on yon pebbly shore, 
 Along the crescent bay far-sweeping, 
 
 White waves are breaking evermore, 
 
 E'en when the winds are calmly sleeping ; 
 
 (63) 
 
64 ADDITIONAL PIECES. 
 
 I gaze when storms are on the deep, 
 Like unchained demons wildly roaming, 
 
 When billows huge their tumult keep, 
 In frantic fury madly foaming. 
 
 Thy deep and still abysses, where 
 
 Dwell life and beauty all-abounding, 
 Where pearls are born and mosses rare, 
 
 And sea-flowers bloom, the rock surrounding 
 The countless mysteries concealed, 
 
 Down where thy lowest vales lie hidden, 
 Seem oft as if to sight revealed, 
 
 While thought treads paths to sight forbidden. 
 
 Yet, mighty sea ! 'tis not the glow 
 
 Of thy broad face when calm and smiling ; 
 'Tis not thy wrath when heavenward go 
 
 Thy surges into mountains piling ; 
 'Tis not the secrets of thy breast, 
 
 Thy countless marvels all unspoken, 
 That make me with thee ever blest, 
 
 Held long as by a spell unbroken ! 
 
ADDITIONAL PIECES 65 
 
 Tis that thou stirresl in my soul 
 
 Thoughts all too deep and vast for telling : 
 Thoughts free as thine own waves that roll 
 
 On and yet on with ceaseless -welling ; 
 'Tis that emotions, memories, loves, 
 
 And buried joys, thou dost awaken : 
 Flown hopes dost call, like nestling doves, 
 
 Back to the heart too soon forsaken. 
 
 'Tis that far o'er thy wide expanse 
 
 I know that sunny lands are lying. 
 And at thy side, full oft, perchance, 
 
 To those fair climes my thought is flying ; 
 I scent the orange groves afar, 
 
 I sec the tufted palm-tree spreading, 
 I rove where orient gardens are. 
 
 In endless bloom their perfumes shedding. 
 
 Tis that in years far. far away, 
 
 When youthful pulses high were beating, 
 
 I joyed by thee at eve to stray. 
 
 True hearts in high communion meet-ins: ; 
 o 
 
e6 ADDITIONAL PIECES. 
 
 And now thou givest back once more 
 
 The faces whose bright smiles have perished 
 
 I see them, greet them, as of yore, 
 
 Though lost, in faithful memory cherished. 
 
 'Tis that when on thy strand 1 feel 
 
 A reverent tenderness come o'er me ; 
 Am moved by thy gray rocks to kneel, 
 
 With all thy grandeur spread before me, 
 And breathe my worship in His ear 
 
 AVIio in his greatness thought out-reaching, 
 Is ever to the lowly near, 
 
 The glory of his goodness teaching. 
 
 'Tis that by thee I feel the love 
 
 That, like thy floods, no measure knowing, 
 From the eternal fount above 
 
 To mortal man is ever flowing ; 
 And hear His footsteps who of old 
 
 Sublimely trod the troubled billow, 
 Who with a word the storm controlled, 
 
 Rising majestic from his pillow. 
 
ADDITIOXAL PIECES. o7 
 
 Tis that, at Bight of thcc, inspired 
 
 With conscious power, my soul ascending 
 Shoots high her flight with wing untired, 
 
 Her 1 1 ea ven ward yearning impulse lending, 
 Till fairer visions greet her sight 
 
 Than charm where tropic suns arc gleaming ; 
 Realms bathed in uncreated light 
 
 From God's high throne forever streaming. 
 
 Long as my mortal years shall roll, 
 
 Grand Sea ! thy sights and sounds shall cheer 
 me. 
 Bring calm sweet musings to my soul. 
 
 And God and kindred spirits near me ; 
 Then, when these eyes behold no more 
 
 Thy noble lace, its charm still keeping, 
 let thy long loved solemn roar 
 
 Be as a requiem o'er me sleeping ! 
 
G8 ADDITIONAL PIECES. 
 
 BURIAL HILL.* 
 
 ON Plymouth's Burial Hill we trod, 
 And high each heart was beating ; 
 It seemed indeed " the field of God," 
 Each stone his praise repeating. 
 
 'Twas not mid chill December's blast 
 O'er sea and land wild sweeping ; 
 
 June's longest day — too soon 'twas past — 
 Its carnival was keeping. 
 
 Soft skies were o'er us as we stood, 
 With summer zephyrs breathing ; 
 
 We saw God's smile on field and wood, 
 And flowers the earth enwreathiner. 
 
 * The most interesting moment in the session of the late National 
 Council of the Congregational Churches Mas that when, standing on 
 Bnrial Hiil at Plymouth over the graves of the Pilgrim Fathers, its 
 members solemnly reaffirmed, with prayer and singing, their fidelity 
 to the system of Christian Faith from which those noble men drew 
 tiaeir highest inspiration. 
 
ADDITIONAL PIECES. 
 
 Beneath our feel the Pilgrims slept, 
 
 The brave, the true, all lowly. 
 Their humble graves by angels kept ; 
 
 The ground to as was holy. 
 
 Ah! then all tenderly we thought, 
 We thought with pride and wonder. 
 
 How — Freedom's price divinely taught — 
 They stood unflinching yonder ; 
 
 Though wintry dullness reigned around, 
 And wintry winds were howling, 
 
 Though only savage man was found. 
 And savage beasts were prowling. 
 
 Anew we felt their hopes and fears. 
 
 When want and sickness wasted : 
 As through the lingering, weary years, 
 
 Of sorrow's cup they tasted. 
 
 Grand souls ! that with heroic will 
 The waves of trouble breasted ; 
 
 Not e'en did woman falter, till 
 Beneath that turf they rested ! 
 
70 ADDITIONAL PIECES. 
 
 For God, for truth, for man, they bore 
 Loss, exile, grief, and danger, 
 
 As Christ, the Lord they loved, of yore 
 Accepted earth's low manger. 
 
 And there above their sacred dust 
 Whose names shall never perish, 
 
 We vowed their faith, a holy trust 
 For all mankind, to cherish. 
 
 God, who hcard'st our prayer and song 
 'Neath heaven's hierh dome ascending, 
 
 Bid us in thine own might be strong, 
 For that pure Faith contending. 
 
 From regions wide where Plenty fills 
 
 Her lap to overflowing ; 
 From rugged realms where rocks and hills 
 
 With gold and gems arc glowing j 
 
 From northern lakes that cool and bright 
 Their sparkling waves are spreading, 
 
 To where fresh orange groves delight, 
 Perpetual fragrance shedding ; 
 
ADDITIONAL PISCES. 71 
 
 From all the wide wide land, the i ry 
 For God'a good Word [a B] ding ; 
 
 And Freedom lifts her hands on high, 
 No more enchained and bleeding ! 
 
 wake, ye sons of Pilgrim sires ! 
 
 Go, live in power and beauty 
 The life sublime their Faith inspires ; 
 
 Its watchword — God axd duty! 
 
72 ADDITIONAL PIECES. 
 
 MOUNT WASHINGTON. 
 
 HERE let me gaze in silence. Awed, en- 
 tranced, 
 And stilled as if to worship reverently ; 
 Moved to all thoughts most noble, pure, and 
 
 calm, 
 To the strange heart-thrills which the vast 
 
 awakes, 
 I seem overmastered by a mighty spell : 
 Exalted, yet subdued, my heart I yield, 
 In this rude solitude, to eye and ear. 
 Beauty and grandeur and a sense of God, 
 Commingled all, enchant my willing soul, 
 Stir it to longings vague and infinite, 
 Fill its profoundest depths and hold it charmed, 
 In tranquil wonder and sublime delight. 
 
 Ye massive domes, ye towering cliffs and crags, 
 Ye purple summits that lift up your brows 
 
ADDITIONAL PIECES. ~;\ 
 
 Bathed in pure azure, or en wreathed with clouds. 
 Far, far ye rise above our mortal paths — 
 Paths resonant with groans and wet with 
 
 tears ; 
 And, in soft sunshine glowing, now ye smile, 
 As if exulting in a living joy ; 
 As if in ever-peaceful, grand repose, 
 Ye feel not the rude shocks that shake the world, 
 Heedless though battles rage and kingdoms fall. 
 Yet know I well that ye not ever thus 
 Serenely stand ; that oft around your heads 
 Fierce tempests rave and cleaving lightnings 
 
 gleam, 
 And thunders peal that from each rifted gorge 
 To gloomy skies are echoed awful back. 
 Changeless ye seem, as if in giant might, 
 Defying elements and hoary time, 
 Twere yours the flow of ages to abide, 
 While man and his proud works are turned to 
 
 dust. 
 And yet I mark that ye bear countless scars ; 
 That down your rugged steeps torrents have 
 
 swept 
 
74 ADDITIONAL PIECES. 
 
 Gashing your sides, and avalanches plunged, 
 Baring your rocky breasts to sun and storm. 
 Exult not proudly o'er frail, mortal man, 
 That naught for him endures ; ye too at last, 
 By earth's fixed, unrelenting law, shall waste. 
 Yet shall your term be long. Man oft shall 
 
 mourn 
 His perished hopes and joys ; shall weep full oft 
 His heart's best treasures ravished all too soon ; 
 Shall see his laurels fade, his honors die, 
 His empires pass, bis palaces decay, 
 His canvas mould, his marbles crumble down, 
 His noblest words of eloquence and song 
 Lost in forgetfulncss, and known no more ; 
 While yet unchanged your majesty remains. 
 Oh ! ye are worthy, venerable forms, 
 That on the long-gone centuries have looked, 
 And wait to look on ages yet to come, 
 Of the deep reverence that my spirit feels. 
 Helpful ye are to lift my heart to Him 
 Whose hand of old your strong foundations laid, 
 And piled, with power almighty, your huge 
 
 towers. 
 
ADDITIONAL PIECES. 75 
 
 Therefore I love to climb your rocky steeps, 
 
 To note each outline, drink the spirit in 
 
 That breathes through all your glens and forests 
 
 wild ; 
 To feel the influence of your changeful moods, 
 And gain from each some joy or impulse new. 
 I love, as now, to watch with you alone, 
 When morning greets you early with her smile ; 
 When evening bids you late a kind good-night ! 
 When ye are holding converse with the stars, 
 At midnight clustering thick around your heads, 
 Like jewels in some august monarch's crown. 
 I love among the pines, far down your slopes, 
 When winds breathe softly in the cool, still eve, 
 To linger for the latest notes of birds — 
 Notes sweetly tender as befits the hour : 
 While rills and distant waterfalls respond, 
 And with their chimes the diapason fill. 
 Ah ! then I seem with God, and almost hear 
 Voices Celestial speaking words of love. 
 And lingering still, well pleased, I dare to dream 
 That the soft cadences that swell and die 
 In your thick shades, arc harmonies divine 
 
76 ADDITIONAL PIECES. 
 
 Wafted to earth from holy choirs of heaven ; 
 Or greetings kind of saintly souls from whom 
 Long since I parted at the gate of death ; 
 Who, loving and well loved, were wont to speak 
 Words that were ever music to my ears. 
 
 Long it were joy to stay. But now again, 
 To duty's call attentive, I return, 
 As if from holy ground, to meet the shock 
 Of life's rude jars, and wrestle with its ills. 
 But from your base, mountains ! I shall go 
 Stronger, with loftier purposes inspired, 
 With fresher thoughts and calmer life within, 
 And firmer rest in God. His changeless pledge 
 Of love, and love's best gifts to faithful souls, 
 Shall stand when even ye, crumbled by time, 
 And lost by slow decay, shall be no more, 
 And earth itself hath vanished as a dream. 
 
ADDITIONAL PIECES. " 
 
 
 
 MISANTHROPY. 
 
 WORLD, to some so bright and fair, 
 Thy charms I cannot see ; 
 Thy joys — thy purest, choicest — are 
 But hollow joys to me. 
 
 When all around look blythe and gay, 
 
 And every heart is glad, 
 I turn in weariness away, 
 
 In spirit sore and sad. 
 
 Not e'en the fireside's kindly cheer 
 Can smooth my knitted brow ; 
 
 In that which once I prized so dear 
 I find no pleasure now. 
 
 Farewell, ye pomps of life ! farewell 
 
 Ye pageants all untrue ! 
 Scenes mid which others joy to dwell 
 
 I bid ye irlad adieu ! 
 
78 ADDITIONAL PIECES. 
 
 Where nature blooms in beauty pure 
 
 My footsteps now I bend, 
 There, unmolested and secure, 
 
 A life of peace to spend. 
 
 Be mine the hermit's lonely cot, 
 
 Round which the wild flowers wave, 
 
 And there, unheeded and forgot, 
 Be mine his lonely grave. 
 
 RESPONSE 
 
 A 
 
 ND think'st thou, fool, when thou hast fled 
 The busy haunts of men, 
 That thou shalt find thy passions dead, 
 To waken not again ? 
 
 Think'st thou thy soul's deep craving, felt 
 
 Without thy wish or will, 
 When thou hast by thy pallet knelt, 
 
 Shall evermore be still ? 
 
ADDITIONAL PIECES. 79 
 
 The warm affections in thy breast. 
 
 That keenly thirst for love, 
 Think'st thou that these can lie at rest, 
 
 Content no more to rove ? 
 
 The conscious power for noble deeds, 
 
 That wakens high desire, 
 Think'st thou, when thou hast told thy beads, 
 
 'Twill stir no inward tire ? 
 
 The sense of duty that commands 
 
 To do with all the might, 
 When thou shalt fold thy idle hands, 
 
 "Will this forswear the right? 
 
 The thought of deeds of love that thou 
 Shouldst every day have done. 
 
 Will it not haunt when thou shalt bow, 
 As nightly sets the sun ? 
 
 The world's great agonising cry, 
 From suffering millions wrung, 
 
 Will that for thee in silence die 
 When thou hast vespers sung ? 
 
80 ADDITIONAL PIECES. 
 
 The dread of reckoning strict and stern 
 For unused gifts and powers, 
 
 Will that not in thy bosom burn, 
 Through all thy lonely hours ? 
 
 Ah, fling thy fatal dream aside, 
 Stand forth in manhood true ; 
 
 Where life's great battle rages wide 
 Be strong to dare and do ! 
 
 In virtue's conflict stern and high, 
 Thy soul shall grow divine ; 
 
 In triumphs, joy shall light thine eye, 
 And holy peace be thine. 
 
 With splendor then shall close the day 
 That ends thy mortal strife ; 
 
 Men by thy grave shall pause and say — 
 " He lived a noble life ! " 
 
ADDITIONAL I'll sj 
 
 THE CHORUS OF ALL SAINTS. 
 
 [Suggested while hearing Haydn's Imperial Mass.] 
 
 IHE choral song of a mighty throng 
 
 T 
 
 JL Comes sounding down the ages ; 
 'Tis a pealing anthem borne along, 
 
 Like the roar of the sea that rages ; 
 Like the shout of winds when the storm awakes, 
 
 Or the echoing distant thunder, 
 Sublime on the listening ear it breaks, 
 
 And enchains the soul in wonder. 
 
 And in that song as it onward rolls. 
 
 There are countless voices blended : 
 Voices of myriads of holy souls 
 
 Since Abel from earth ascended ; 
 Of patriarchs old in the world's dim morn. 
 
 Of seers from the centuries hoary, 
 Of angels who chimed when the Lord was born — 
 
 " To God in the highest, glory !*' 
 6 
 
*g2 ADDITIONAL PIECES. 
 
 Of the wise that, led by the mystic star, 
 
 Found the babe in Bethlehem's manger, 
 And gifts, from the Orient lands afar, 
 
 Bestowed on the new-born stranger ; 
 Of Mary, the blessed of God Most High ; 
 
 Of the Marys that watch were keeping 
 At the Cross where He hung for the world to die, 
 
 And stood by the sepulchre weeping. 
 
 The voices of holy Apostles rise, 
 
 The symphony grandly swelling, 
 And land to land with the strain replies, 
 
 As they go of Messiah telling ; 
 And with them the martyr host conspire, — 
 
 A host as the stars for number, — 
 They sing from the rack and from out the fire, 
 
 From the dust in which they slumber. 
 
 From the saints obscure, that in every age 
 Have fought the good fight unheeded, 
 
 Whose names ne'er graced the historic page, 
 Who thought not of fame, nor needed, 
 
ADDITIOXAL PIECES. <\ 
 
 Come tones that tell of a tender love, 
 
 Of a spirit calm and holy : 
 Oh, sweet to the car of the Lord above 
 
 Is the praise of the meek and lowly! 
 
 He hath heard, well pleased, when the psalm 
 awoke 
 
 Dark caves and the dismal prison ; 
 When the stillness of lonely glens it broke, 
 
 Or on damp night-winds has risen ; 
 When up from the cot of the poor it came, 
 
 Or from meanest cabins stealing, 
 'Twas an offering dearer than altar's flame. 
 
 The love of true hearts revealing. 
 
 And hark ! from the joyous infant choir, 
 Which the Lord to His arms hath taken, 
 
 Xotes sweet as breathe from the trembling lyre 
 That the softest touch doth waken ! 
 
 And from childhood's band who. when life's 
 fresh glow 
 On their early bloom was lying, 
 
84 ADDITIONAL PIECES. 
 
 Felt the shaft of death to their young hearts go, 
 And His love enfold them dying ! 
 
 So onward, long as the queenly moon 
 
 Shall float through the azure nightly, 
 Or the sun ascend to his throne at noon, 
 
 Or the evening star burn brightly, 
 Shall the choral hymn of the saints resound 
 
 That chants of the Cross the story ; 
 It shall rise and blend with the trumpet's sound 
 
 When the Lord shall come in glory ! 
 
ADDITIONAL PIECES. 
 
 THANKSGIVING. 
 
 ATOVEMBER ! draped in sullen gray, 
 -Ll And veiled with withered leaves, 
 One ever-welcome, smiling day. 
 Thy leaden gloom relieves. 
 
 Day of bright' hours, that all too fast 
 
 With noiseless feet go by, 
 Oh, give me back the buried past 
 
 Ere thou thyself shalt die ! 
 
 Let me tread o'er the misty track 
 Of long, long vanished years ; 
 
 Let childhood's dreamy days come back 
 With all their smiles and tears. 
 
 On memory's canvas, fair and bright. 
 The dear old home is drawn. 
 
86 ADDITIONAL PIECES. 
 
 And o'er it falls the golden light, 
 As of a cloudless morn. 
 
 I see the trees that hemmed it round, 
 
 On which, each year anew, 
 The robin built her nest and found 
 
 A greeting warm and true. 
 
 I see the crib with ripened corn 
 
 And yellow grain o'erflow, 
 The well-filled barn, the close-grazed !n\vn, 
 
 The orchard's tempting glow. 
 
 I pass again the threshold where, 
 
 A bounding child, I played ; 
 When parents, brothers, sisters, there 
 
 For me an Eden made. 
 
 I see again my father's smile ; 
 
 I hear my mother's song ; 
 Sweet dream ! so sweet, that still awhile 
 
 I would the bliss prolong. 
 
ADDITIONAL PIECES. 87 
 
 But onward hastes my restless thought, 
 
 k& onward trod my feet, 
 When, home and childhood left, I sought 
 The strifes for manhood meet. 
 
 E'er since a man, with busy men, 
 
 I've trod life's flinty path, 
 With crimsoned footsteps now, and then. 
 
 Amid the tempest's wrath ; 
 
 Thou, loving God, my feet hast kept. 
 
 That else afar had strayed : 
 Hast dried the tear when sorrow wept, 
 
 And lit the gloomy shade ! 
 
 Thy hand, o'er all the desert waste. 
 
 My cup hath daily tilled ; 
 The Bread of Heaven hath made me taste, 
 
 And every wish hath stilled. 
 
 Though childhood's lights and joys can greet 
 No more my fond return, 
 
88 ADDITIONAL PIECES 
 
 Homeward, each year, shall turn my feet, 
 Long as life's flame shall burn. 
 
 Round the old hearth-stone met again, 
 The old deep love shall glow, 
 
 And youthful mirth shall wake and reign, 
 And hearts together flow. 
 
 Oh, ever-welcome, ever dear, 
 
 Thou ancient festal day, 
 When Home calls back to social cheer 
 
 Its wanderers long away. 
 
ADDlT/nXAL PIEi E& 8 ( J 
 
 
 
 THE SCEPTIC. 
 
 H, pity the poor doubter darkly driven. 
 He knows not whither, o'er life's troubled 
 
 On sun and stars, to light the wanderer given. 
 His eyes, now half bedimnied, are turned in 
 vain. 
 
 Xo needle points for him the dubious way ; 
 
 No friendly chart guides o'er the trackless 
 deep ; 
 Xo lighthouse greets him with its gladsome ray ; 
 
 Xo haven welcomes when wild tempests sweep. 
 
 The voice divine within he heedeth not : 
 The book of nature he doth all misread : 
 
 Celestial Truth denied, her words forgot, 
 Illusion cheats him and false lights mislead. 
 
90 ADDITIONAL PIECES. 
 
 In fond conceit he dreams ere long to find, 
 By his own wisdom led, a region fair, 
 
 Where placid streams adown sweet valleys wind 
 And clays serenely glide without a care. 
 
 Ah, no ! though many a blooming realm there be, 
 Where beauty smiles beneath a cloudless sun, 
 
 Yet such fair shore his eye shall never see, 
 Misfortune's victim ere his course be run. 
 
 His fated bark, long tossed the ocean o'er, 
 At last shall founder helpless and alone ; 
 
 Or stranded on some rugged, surf-beat shore, 
 O'er him, in woful dirge, the waves shall moan. 
 
 Thou that hast faith, on God's good Word hold 
 fast ; 
 
 Thy chart and compass both His truth shall be, 
 Till, reached thy port and all thy perils past, 
 
 In peace thou floatest on the crystal sea. 
 
ADDITIOXAL PIECES. 91 
 
 SOXG — THE WIFE. 
 
 WHEN through dark wilds and doubtful 
 mazes, 
 O'er thorny paths perplexed I rove. 
 And many a luring meteor blazes, 
 
 And patience many an hour hath strove ; 
 When worn with care, my spirit sinking, 
 
 Xo more elastic, strong and free, 
 Despondency's sad draught is drinking, 
 And hopes like fading shadows flee ; 
 Oppressed, half weary of my life, 
 Thou art my solace, faithful wife ! 
 
 Like some lone spot of verdure springing, 
 The desert's dreary waste to cheer, 
 
 Which, chance the weary wanderer bringing, 
 Yields soft repose by fountains clear ; 
 
 E'en thus, on earth's wide desert smiling, 
 Appears my home, one fairer spot. 
 
92 ADDITIONAL PIECES 
 
 Where joy springs fresh each care beguiling, 
 
 And noise and discord enter not ; 
 Of home, bright resting-place of life, 
 Thou art the soul, my noble wife ! 
 
 When, duty's urgent call obeying, 
 
 I wander from that home and thee, 
 My truant thought is ever straying 
 
 Backward thy gentle face to see ; 
 And when again my footsteps turning 
 
 Bear me thy warm embrace to meet, 
 That thought with fond impatience burning 
 
 Sweeps onward than the wind more fleet, 
 And stays not till, life of my life, 
 It rests with thee, my charming wife ! 
 
 When comes at length the hour of meeting, 
 I give and take the fervent kiss ; 
 
 Oh, with the thrill of such a greeting, 
 Can earth compare another bliss ? 
 
 The joy of that eternal union 
 
 That ransomed spirits round God's throne 
 
ADDITIONAL PIECES. 93 
 
 Unites in heaven's own blest communion, 
 
 Excels it, but excels alone ; 
 That be it mine, to endless life, 
 With thee to share, my angel wife! 
 
94 ADDITIONAL PIECES. 
 
 MIDSUMMER NIGHT. 
 
 O'ER the dim, empurpled mountains, 
 Fades the ruby light away ; 
 Shadows sleep where late the fountains 
 Sparkled 'neath the glance of day. 
 
 Tranquil streams that, smoothly gliding, 
 Mirrored tree and cliff and cloud, 
 
 All their placid beauty hiding, 
 
 Gathering night-shades now enshroud. 
 
 Flowers that in the jocund morning 
 Drank with blushing lips the dew, 
 
 Folded wait another dawning, 
 And their wasted sweets renew. 
 
 Hurrying life's last murmur dying, 
 Stillness broods o'er vale and hill, 
 
 Startled only by the crying 
 Of the wakeful whip-poor-will. 
 
ADDITIONAL PIECES. 95 
 
 Spirit of the peaceful hour, 
 
 Now while nature sinks to rest, 
 Let thy sweet, subduing power, 
 
 Still each passion in my breast ! 
 
 Give calm thoughts of tasted sorrows, 
 
 Tender memories wake again, 
 Bring me dreams of bright to-morrow3, 
 
 Hopes that shall not all be vain. 
 
 While with darkness vigils keeping, 
 
 Here I linger silent, lone, 
 Come there, like the soft wind sweeping, 
 
 Breathings from the realm unknown. 
 
 As yon watching stars above me 
 Greet me, though afar they roll. 
 
 May not those in heaven that love me, 
 Speak in whispers to my soul ? 
 
 As if some new sense possessing, 
 
 May I not those whispers hear ? 
 Catch from airy lips a blessing, 
 
 Know that holv ones are near ? 
 
96 ADDITIONAL PIECES. 
 
 Night's deep shade the world concealing, 
 Makes the soul's quick glance more keen ; 
 
 In serener light revealing 
 To her eye the things unseen. 
 
 Sights of unthought glory hidden, 
 Sounds unheard by mortal ear, 
 
 Are not to her sense forbidden 
 When she wakes to see nnd hear. 
 
 Beauty greets her, ever vernal, 
 
 Melodies for earth too sweet, 
 Glows for her the Throne Eternal, 
 
 Of Incarnate Love the seat ! 
 
 On my spirit heavenward turning. 
 
 Falls celestial grace like dew. 
 Waking all afresh her yearning 
 
 xlngels, to ascend to you ! 
 
 Oh, while hushed is eacli commotion, 
 While, my soul, thy thought is free, 
 
 Fervent breathe thy pure devotion, 
 God and heaven are nigh to thee ! 
 
ADDITIONAL PIECES 97 
 
 THE AXGEL CHILD. 
 
 r 1MIE seal of heaven was early set. 
 1 Sweet child ! upon thy sunny brow ; 
 Though lost to earth thou livest vet. 
 All bright and glad I see thee now ! 
 
 Those glowing eyes, that gentle smile. 
 
 Spoke thee for earth a thing too fair ; 
 A cherub lent from heaven a while. 
 
 A cherub's grace 'twas thine to wear. 
 
 Oft fondly beat a father's heart. 
 
 To see thy budding life unfold ; 
 And oft a mother's tear did start. 
 
 Born of deep yearnings all untold. 
 
 Hope dreamed that many a smiling year 
 Should many a ripening charm display ; 
 
 But. oli ! a voice we could not hear, 
 Won thee in childhood's dawn away. 
 
98 ADDITIONAL PIECES. 
 
 Yet, but in seeming didst thou die ; 
 
 A joyous spirit, swift of wing, 
 'Twas thine to cleave yon azure sky, 
 
 And, like the lark, to soar and sing. 
 
 Unquenched is that immortal fire ! 
 
 Dear child, thou didst not live in vain ; 
 And heaven shall grant our warm desire, 
 
 To fold thee to our hearts again ', 
 
ADDITIONAL PIECES. 90 
 
 SONG. 
 
 GENTLY I glide, love, 
 Glide o'er the deep ; 
 Hushed are the wild winds, 
 The proud billows sleep ; 
 Soft gleams the summer moon 
 
 On the still sea ; 
 Yet roams my thought, love, 
 It wanders to thee. 
 
 All, all is beauty, 
 
 Around and above ; 
 With me are kind hearts, 
 
 And eyes beaming love ; 
 Fair lips breathe music 
 
 That charms the rapt ear, 
 But stirs not the soul, love, 
 
 'Tis not thee I hear ! 
 
100 ADDITIONAL PIECES. 
 
 Where'er thou art, love, 
 
 Peace fill thy breast ! 
 Pure spirits guard thee, 
 
 Awake or at rest ; 
 When the morn breaketh, 
 
 With breeze fresh and free, 
 Oh, may it bear' love, 
 
 This fond heart to thee 1 
 
ADDITIONAL PIECES. 101 
 
 THE GOLDEN WEDDIXG. 
 
 jrpiS fifty years ! 'tis fifty years ! how swiftly 
 
 X they have fled ! 
 Since I thee, my best and dearest, to the bridal 
 
 altar led ! 
 In youthful grace and beauty thou wast blushing 
 
 fresh and fair, 
 'Twas with pride and exultation that I stood 
 
 beside thee there. 
 
 The hopes that then we cherished were the 
 
 kindling hopes of youth ; 
 The vows which then we plighted were the vows 
 
 of love and truth ; 
 And light before us glanced as we thought of 
 
 coming days, 
 As when the summer sunbeam o'er the trembling 
 
 water plavs. 
 
102 ADDITIONAL PIECES. 
 
 Of changeless bliss we dreamed not, for all too 
 
 well we knew, 
 That athwart life's devious path many an unseen 
 
 arrow flew ; 
 But we trusted that when wounded, when the 
 
 bitter tear should start, 
 Sweet sympathy would heal, and cheat of half 
 
 its woe the heart. 
 
 And we thought that should kind Heaven deign 
 
 to smile upon our lot, 
 Grant a home and tranquil days in some dear 
 
 secluded spot, 
 The flowers would seem more lovely and the 
 
 stars shed purer light, 
 As we gazed on them together with reciprocal 
 
 delight. 
 
 Now that fifty years are passed, and we cast a 
 
 look behind, 
 What speaks the quick emotion that is rushing 
 
 o'er 'each mind ? 
 
ADDITIONAL PIECES. 103 
 
 Saitb it of disappointment — of each vision empty 
 found ? 
 
 Of hopes bright star declining and thick dark- 
 ness gathered round ? 
 
 No, 110, our thanks we offer to the gracious 
 
 Hand that guides, 
 ; Tis a placid stream that bears us, and peacefully 
 
 it glides : 
 May coming years thus greet us, till life's latest 
 
 sands are run. 
 And life's close be like the twilight when has 
 
 set a cloudless sun.