Poems of home and country :: :: University of Virginia Library

The clouds of affliction and pain
Have shrouded in mourning the sky;
Thick darkness conceals all the plain,
And tempests are hurrying by.
I cry out, with sorrow o'erwhelmed,
While tears from my weeping eyes break;
When shall I with sorrow be done;
Oh, when in Thy likeness awake?

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Yet 't is not my friends that I mourn,—
I weep not that loved ones retire;
I grieve not that I am forlorn,
And earthly enjoyments expire.
My Saviour! my Saviour! my God!
Why dost Thou my spirit forsake?
Oh, when shall I throw off my load?
Oh, when in Thy likeness awake?

The winds of temptation arise,
And howl o'er my pathway of night;
The cloud never moves from the skies,
To show the blest beaming of light.
With madness I rush into sin,
Then grief comes, my poor heart to break;
When shall I be sinful no more?
Oh, when in Thy likeness awake?

Oh, when shall my Sabbaths again
Be sweet and delightful to me?
When shall I, my Saviour, obtain
Communion of spirit with Thee?
This darkness and dulness I long,
I long from my bosom to shake;
When shall I to gladness return?
Oh, when in Thy likeness awake?

My Saviour! my Saviour! I wait,
I wait till Thy glory arise;
I watch at Thy merciful gate,
Till light bursts again from the skies.
Then gladness shall swell in my breast,
No more these complaints shall I make;
But calmly my spirit shall rest,
And I, in Thy likeness, awake.