Mine are unkind and relentless powers—
I pluck the sweetest, the fairest flowers;
But I scatter their fragrance around the bed,
And Memory treasures the leaves they shed. -
O'er the cradled child by its mother's side,
And the couch of Age, I alike preside;
Softly I steal o'er their slumbering eyes,
And awful their waking, whom I surprise.
I visit the halls of the great and gay,
And snatch them from all their delights away;
I rest at the villager's humble door;
For welcome alike are the rich and the poor.
Some are presumptuous, and wait not my time,
But rush to my arms by a terrible crime;
They seek not the hand that is stretch'd out to save
But sink in despair and a suicide's grave.
The warrior goes forth in his armour so bright. And his war steed is saddled all fresh for the fight; But the plume on his helmet is laid in the dust, For vainly in buckler or shield might he trust.
The charger that proudly career'd o'er the plain,
Now serves as a bed for the wounded and slain;
And his rider who mounted in spirit so high,
Far, far from his home and his kindred shall die.
To the valley all smiling in Nature's gay dress,
To the bleak, barren mountain I send my express;
In the darkness of night, or the splendour of day,
I send forth the summons which all must obey.
Nor to earth alone can my reign be confined,
I dwell on the ocean-the stormy wind-
And the hidden rocks-O they yield to me
A harvest rich from the foaming sea.
When the surges beat and the billows roar,
And the mariner struggles to gain the shore;
O rather by far had he ne'er been born,
Than meet my rude grasp in the fearful storm.
My arrows are sharpen'd, my courser is fleet-
Prepare then, O mortal, my coming to greet;
Ere the sun sets again, I this mandate may give—
Time to thee is no more; thou shalt die and not live!
ANON.
SOON will this toilsome strife be o'er
Of sorrow and of care,
And life's dull vanities no more
This anxious breast ensnare.
Courage, my soul, on God rely,
Deliverance soon will come !
A thousand ways Jehovah has
To bring believers home.
Ere first I drew this vital breath
From nature's prison free,
Crosses in number, measure, weight,
Appointed were for me.
But Thou, my Shepherd, Friend, and Guide,
Hast kindly led me on;
Taught me to rest my weary head
On Christ," the Corner-stone."
So comforted and so sustain'd
With dark events I strove,
And found them as I walk'd by faith,
All messengers of love.
With silent and submissive awe
Adore a chastening God:
Revere his judgments, trust his word,
And humbly kiss the rod.
BEAUTIFUL, Sublime, and glorious,
Mild, majestic, foaming, free;
Over time itself victorious,
Image of eternity.
Sun, and moon, and stars shine o'er thee,
See thy surface ebb and flow:
Yet attempt not to explore thee
In thy soundless depths below.
Whether morning's splendour steep thee
With the rainbow's glowing grace,
Tempests rouse, or navies sweep thee,
"Tis but for a moment's space.
Earth, her valleys and her mountains,
Mortal man's behest obey;
Thy unfathomable fountains
Scoff his search and scorn his sway.
Such art thou, stupendous ocean!
But, if overwhelm'd by thee,
Can we think without emotion
What must thy Creator be?
What than knowest not nom than shalt know hereafter."
THERE is a secret in the ways of God
With his own children, which none others know,
That sweetens all he does; and if such peace
While under his afflicting hand we find,
What will it be to see him as he is,
And pass the reach of all that now disturbs
The tranquil soul's repose? To contemplate,
In retrospect unclouded, all the means
By which his wisdom has prepar'd his saints
For the vast weight of glory which remains!
Cure their affliction, if my Father bids,
And be my frowning friend. A friend that frowns
Is better than a smiling enemy.
We welcome clouds that bring the farmer rain,
Though they the prospect blacken all around
And shade the beauties of the opening year,
That, by their stores enrich'd, the earth may yield
A fruitful summer and a plenteous crop.
MILNER AND SOWERBY, PRINTERS, HALIFAX.
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