Poems on Serious and Sacred Subjects printed only as private tokens of regard, for the particular friends of the author [by William Hayley] |
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 | Poems on Serious and Sacred Subjects |  |
I.
[Parent to those, whose infant days]
Parent to those, whose infant days
No human parent know;
To thee, O Charity! the praise
Of filial love shall flow.
No human parent know;
To thee, O Charity! the praise
Of filial love shall flow.
Base want, and vice, a foe to all!
Round us their snares had thrown,
Had not thy arm, at pity's call,
Embrac'd us for thine own.
Round us their snares had thrown,
Had not thy arm, at pity's call,
Embrac'd us for thine own.
O blest the land! where all to Thee
A tender homage pay!
Where indigence and wealth agree
To venerate thy sway!
A tender homage pay!
Where indigence and wealth agree
To venerate thy sway!
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That land the wrath of Heaven may spare,
When ruthless nations groan;
Her guarded orphan's grateful prayer
May rise to mercy's throne.
When ruthless nations groan;
Her guarded orphan's grateful prayer
May rise to mercy's throne.
Parent to those, whose infant days
No human parent know;
To Thee, O Charity, the praise
Of filial love shall flow.
No human parent know;
To Thee, O Charity, the praise
Of filial love shall flow.
| Poems on Serious and Sacred Subjects | |