This foolish heart can leave her God,
And shadows tempt her thoughts abroad:
How shall I fix this wandering mind;
Or throw my fetters on the wind?
Look gently down, almighty Grace,
Prison me round in thine embrace;
Pity the soul that would be thine,
And let thy power my love confine.
Say, when shall the bright moment be
That I shall live alone for thee,
My heart no foreign lords adore,
And the wild muse prove false no more!
HAPPY the hours, the golden days,
When I could call my Jesus mine,
And sit and view his smiling face,
And melt in pleasures all divine.
Near to my heart, within my arms
He lay, till sin defil'd my breast,
Till broken vows, and earthly charms,
Tir'd and provok'd my heavenly guest.
And now he's gone (O mighty woe!)
Gone from my soul, and hides his love!
Curse on you, sins, that griev'd him so,
Ye sins, that forc'd him to remove.
Break, break, my heart; complain, my tongue : Hither, my friends, your sorrows bring:
Angels, assist my doleful song,
If you have e'er a mournful string.
But, ah! your joys are ever high,
Ever his lovely face you see;
While my poor spirits pant and die,
And groan, for thee, my God, for thee.
Yet let my hope look through my tears,
And spy afar his rolling throne ;
His chariot through the cleaving spheres
Shall bring the bright Beloved down.
Swift as a roe flies o'er the hills,
My soul springs out to meet him high,
Then the fair Conqueror turns his wheels,
And climbs the mansions of the sky.
There smiling joy for ever reigns,
No more the turtle leaves the dove;
Farewell to jealousies and pains,
And all the ills of absent love.
GOD EXALTED ABOVE ALL PRAISE.
ETERNAL Power! whose high abode
Becomes the grandeur of a God;
Infinite length beyond the bounds
Where stars revolve their little rounds.
The lowest step above thy seat
Rises too high for Gabriel's feet,
In vain the tall archangel tries
To reach thine height, with wond'ring eyes.
Thy dazzling beauties whilst he sings,
He hides his face behind his wings;
And ranks of shining thrones around
Fall, worshipping, and spread the ground.
Lord, what shall earth and ashes do?
We would adore our Maker too;
From sin and dust to thee we cry,
"The Great, the Holy, and the High!"
Earth, from afar, has heard the fame,
And worms have learnt to lisp thy name;
But, O! the glories of thy mind
Leave all our soaring thoughts behind.
God is in heaven, and men below;
Be short, our tunes; our words be few; A sacred reverence checks our songs, And praise sits silent on our tongues.
"Tibi silet laus, O Deus," Psal. lxv. i.
SACRED TO VIRTUE, HONOUR, AND FRIENDSHIP.
QUEEN of the northern world, whose gentle sway
Commands our love, and charms our hearts to obey,
Forgive the nation's groan when William died:
Lo, at thy feet, in all the loyal pride
Of blooming joy, three happy realms appear,
And William's urn almost without a tear
Stands, nor complains; while from thy gracious
Peace flows in silver streams amidst the throng.
Amazing balm, that on those lips was found
To soothe the torment of that mortal wound,
And calm the wild affright! The terror dies,
The bleeding wound cements, the danger flies,
And Albion shouts thine honours as her joys arise.
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