University of Virginia Library

Labor and Rest

Thou needst not rest, the shining spheres are thine,
That roll perpetual on their silent way;
And thou dost breathe in me a voice divine,
That tells more sure of thine Eternal sway;
Thine the first starting of the early leaf,
The gathering green, the changing autumn hue;
To Thee the world's long years are but as brief,
As the fresh tints the spring will soon renew;

94

Thou needest not man's little life of years,
Save that he gather wisdom from them all;
That in thy fear he lose all other fears,
And in thy calling heed no other call;
Then shall he be thy child to know thy care,
And in thy glorious self the eternal sabbath share.
Poem No. 687; c. January 1839