BRIEF life is here our portion,

Brief sorrow, short-lived care : The life that knows no ending, The tearless life is there; Reward of grace how wondrous ! Short toil, eternal rest!

O, miracle of mercy,

That rebels should be blest!

That we with sin polluted

Should have our home on high!

That we should dwell in mansions

Beyond the starry sky!

And now we fight the battle

And then we wear the crown

Of full and everlasting

And ever bright renown!

I know not, O I know not
What social joys are there, -—
What pure, unfading glory,—

What light beyond compare ;

And when I fain would sing them,
My spirit fails and faints,
And vainly strives to image
The assembly of the saints.

There is the throne of David;
And there, from toil released,
The shout of them that triumph,
The song of them that feast.
O Garden free from sorrow!

O Plains that know no strife!
O princely Bowers, all blooming!
O Realm and Home of life!

SAINT BERNARD

O PARADISE ! O Paradise!

Who doth not crave for rest!
Who would not seek the happy land

Where they that loved are blest?

'Tis weary waiting here: We long to be where Jesus is, To feel, to see, him near,

Where loyal hearts and true
Stand ever in the light,

All rapture through and through
In God's most holy sight!

We want to sin no more!

We want to be as pure on earth

As on thy spotless shore, Where loyal hearts and true

Stand ever in the light,

All rapture through and through

In God's most holy sight!

F. W. FABER.