3.
“Who going through the vale of misery use it for a well;
and the pools are filled with water. They will go from strength
to strength.”
From hall of Judgment, by “the way of woe,”
To Golgotha and that sepulchral hill,
The numbered “stations”
mark each spot of ill;
Whereon with faltering footsteps, sad and slow,
The pensive pilgrims linger as they go,
From scene to scene, from step to step, and still
From each anew their labouring bosoms fill
With prayer and praise. Each place, while from below
They upward wind, as flowers which bow their head
Beneath the passing footsteps as we tread,
Breathes incense of good thoughts, which shall imbue
The soul for future years. Thus mindful love
May pause upon each theme, and, like the dove,
In one same measured plaint her strain renew.
