Thus sang they in the English boat,
A holy and a cheerful note,

And all the way, to guide their chime,
With falling oars they kept the time.

A. Marvell

IX

B

THE LOVE OF GOD

LEST be Thy love, dear Lord,
That taught us this sweet way
Only to love Thee for Thyself,
And for that love obey.

O Thou, our soul's chief hope!
We to thy mercy fly;

Where'er we are, Thou canst protect,
Whate'er we need, supply.

Whether we sleep or wake,
To Thee we both resign;
By night we see, as well as day,
If Thy light on us shine.

Whether we live, or die,
Both we submit to Thee;

In death we live, as well as life,

If Thine in death we be.

7. Austin

X

GOD THE ONLY COMFORTER

THOU that driest the mourner's tear,

How dark this world would be,

If, when deceived and wounded here,
We could not fly to Thee!

The friends who in our sunshine live,
When winter comes are flown;
And he who has but tears to give,
Must weep those tears alone.

But Thou wilt heal the broken heart,
Which, like the plants that throw
Their fragrance from the wounded part,
Breathes sweetness out of woe.

When joy no longer soothes, or cheers,
And even the hope that threw
A moment's sparkle o'er our tears,
Is dimmed and vanished too!

O, who could bear life's stormy doom,

Did not Thy wing of love

Come brightly wafting through the gloom,

One peace-branch from above?

Then sorrow touched by Thee grows bright
With more than rapture's ray;

As darkness shows us worlds of light
We could not see by day.

T. Moore

L

XI

A PRAYER

Imitated from the Persian

ORD! who art merciful as well as just, Incline Thine ear to me, a child of dust! Not what I would, O Lord! I offer Thee, Alas! but what I can.

Father Almighty, who hast made me man, And bade me look to heaven, for Thou art there, Accept my sacrifice and humble prayer. Four things which are not in Thy treasury, I lay before Thee, Lord, with this petition : My nothingness, my wants,

My sins, and my contrition.

R. Southey

XII

THY WILL BE DONE

FATHER, I know that all my life

Is portioned out for me,

And the changes that are sure to come
I do not fear to see;

But I ask Thee for a present mind,
Intent on pleasing Thee.

I ask Thee for a thoughtful love,
Through constant watching wise,
To meet the glad with joyful smiles
And wipe the weeping eyes :
And a heart at leisure from itself,
To soothe and sympathize.

I would not have the restless will
That hurries to and fro;
Seeking for some great thing to do,
A secret thing to know:

I would be treated as a child,
And guided where I go.

Wherever in the world I am,
In whatsoe'er estate,

I have a fellowship with hearts/
To keep and cultivate,

And a work of lowly love to do,

From the Lord on whom I wait.

And if some things I do not ask
In my cup of blessing be,

I would have my spirit filled the more
With grateful love to Thee;
More careful, not to serve Thee much,
But to please Thee perfectly.

There are briars besetting every path,
That call for patient care;

There is a cross in every lot,

And an earnest need for prayer; But a lowly heart that leans on Thee, Is happy anywhere.

In a service which Thy will appoints,
There are no bonds for ine;

For my inmost heart is taught the truth
That makes Thy children free;
And a life of self-renouncing love

Is a life of liberty.

A. L. Waring

XIII

THE FORCE OF PRAYER

HAT is good for a bootless bene?"

"WHA

WAT is go for words begins my tale;

And their meaning is, whence can comfort spring When prayer is of no avail?

"What is good for a bootless bene?"
The falconer to the lady said:
And she made answer, "Endless sorrow!"
For she knew that her son was dead.

She knew it by the falconer's words,

And from the look of the falconer's eye;
And from the love that was in her soul
For her youthful Romilly.

Young Romilly through Barden Woods
Is ranging high and low;

And holds a greyhound in a leash
To let slip upon buck or doe.

The pair have reached that fearful chasm,
How tempting to bestride!
For lordly Wharf is there pent in

With rocks on either side.

This striding-place is called the Strid,
A name which it took of yore:

A thousand years hath it borne that name,
And shall a thousand more.