 | The Poetical Works of Robert Montgomery |  |
MODERATION.
“Give me neither poverty nor riches.”—Prov. xxx. 8.
I will not sigh for vast domains,
For festive halls and homes of pleasure,
Nor do I seek redundant gains
To heap my huge and hoarded treasure;
But this I dare to ask,—a placid mind
In every pulse of thought to heaven resign'd.
For festive halls and homes of pleasure,
Nor do I seek redundant gains
To heap my huge and hoarded treasure;
But this I dare to ask,—a placid mind
In every pulse of thought to heaven resign'd.
50
There is a wealth in calm desires,
In chaste content and holy feeling,
Beyond their reach whom gold inspires,
But madly from themselves are stealing
That more than jewel'd mines those hearts possess,
Which beat secure in God's almightiness.
In chaste content and holy feeling,
Beyond their reach whom gold inspires,
But madly from themselves are stealing
That more than jewel'd mines those hearts possess,
Which beat secure in God's almightiness.
Extremes are not what man endures
Unless by heavenly wisdom guided;
And Gain the heart to guilt allures,
When once a soul becomes divided
Between what God and duty only claim
From all baptised into Emanuel's name.
Unless by heavenly wisdom guided;
And Gain the heart to guilt allures,
When once a soul becomes divided
Between what God and duty only claim
From all baptised into Emanuel's name.
Thus, riches prove a deadly gift
Which oft corrupt each calmer blessing,
And to such height the mind uplift,
That soon it shrinks from e'er confessing
How all we have, and are, or hope to be,
Flows from the fountain-grace of Deity.
Which oft corrupt each calmer blessing,
And to such height the mind uplift,
That soon it shrinks from e'er confessing
How all we have, and are, or hope to be,
Flows from the fountain-grace of Deity.
'Tis sad to think how gilded clay
Hath tempted man from God, and glory!
And lured him on the broad bad way
Which Christ reveals in warning story;
That path whose breadth doth equal Passion's will,
And widens ever to increase the ill.
Hath tempted man from God, and glory!
And lured him on the broad bad way
Which Christ reveals in warning story;
That path whose breadth doth equal Passion's will,
And widens ever to increase the ill.
But there is wealth for all whose eyes
Can hail true charms around them glowing,
And more than mines in those supplies
Creation's scenes are e'er bestowing,
Would men but love them with congenial mind
And seek pure riches, such as God design'd.
Can hail true charms around them glowing,
And more than mines in those supplies
Creation's scenes are e'er bestowing,
Would men but love them with congenial mind
And seek pure riches, such as God design'd.
Here is an heritage for all,
A patrimonial bliss unbounded,
The ruin'd orphans of the world may call
Their own, howe'er by want surrounded:—
Of Nature's glories none but Hearts complain
Whose coldness feels their inspiration vain.
A patrimonial bliss unbounded,
The ruin'd orphans of the world may call
Their own, howe'er by want surrounded:—
Of Nature's glories none but Hearts complain
Whose coldness feels their inspiration vain.
Then, bless we God for this bright world,
Its majesty of form and motion,
For all the beams by Light unfurl'd
Which grace the earth, or gild the ocean;
For the mild lisp of each melodious breeze
And word-like whisper of those conscious trees!
Its majesty of form and motion,
For all the beams by Light unfurl'd
Which grace the earth, or gild the ocean;
For the mild lisp of each melodious breeze
And word-like whisper of those conscious trees!
Nor be forgot the seasons' change
In rounds of restless life recurring,
Through which the poet's eye can range,
And feel his lyric bosom stirring,
When oft he views in vestal skies afar
The dream-like radiance of some throbbing star.
In rounds of restless life recurring,
Through which the poet's eye can range,
And feel his lyric bosom stirring,
When oft he views in vestal skies afar
The dream-like radiance of some throbbing star.
And are there not, apart from gold
And haughty Grandeur's sumptuous dwelling,
True mercies, which the pure behold
With silent hymns of gladness swelling,—
Health, food, and raiment, and the countless store
Of blessings, that enwreath some cottage door?
And haughty Grandeur's sumptuous dwelling,
True mercies, which the pure behold
With silent hymns of gladness swelling,—
Health, food, and raiment, and the countless store
Of blessings, that enwreath some cottage door?
Bright homes of bliss, and hearths of joy
With Love's glad face upon us beaming,
And genial friends, whose smiles destroy
Autumnal shades, when doubt lies dreaming;
The infant's prattle, and the mother's tone
Whose wedded heart seems throbbing through our own!
With Love's glad face upon us beaming,
And genial friends, whose smiles destroy
Autumnal shades, when doubt lies dreaming;
The infant's prattle, and the mother's tone
Whose wedded heart seems throbbing through our own!
Yes, these are more than gold can gain,
And often fly the haunts of splendour,
Whose pomp excites ambitious pain
And leaves the selfish heart untender,—
Dead to its God, and cold to all who plead,
When doom'd to lie like Lazarus in his need.
And often fly the haunts of splendour,
Whose pomp excites ambitious pain
And leaves the selfish heart untender,—
Dead to its God, and cold to all who plead,
When doom'd to lie like Lazarus in his need.
And add to this, that Book Divine!—
The God in language manifested,
Where glory streams from each true line
By earth and heaven for aye attested;
Ah! none are poor who call such volume theirs,
And of its promises are heaven-born heirs.
The God in language manifested,
Where glory streams from each true line
By earth and heaven for aye attested;
Ah! none are poor who call such volume theirs,
And of its promises are heaven-born heirs.
And we have sacraments and rites
The holy Church to all presenteth,
With peaceful hopes and pure delights
To each whose tearful soul repenteth,—
Prayers, hymns, and chants, and hallelujahs deep
Whose choral thunders round the dim aisles sweep.
The holy Church to all presenteth,
With peaceful hopes and pure delights
To each whose tearful soul repenteth,—
Prayers, hymns, and chants, and hallelujahs deep
Whose choral thunders round the dim aisles sweep.
Nor let us, with unloving mind,
Forget what art and science granteth,
What music yields to ears refined
When harps resound, or Woman chanteth;
True are such pleasures, innocently loved,
By reason sanction'd and by heaven approved.
Forget what art and science granteth,
What music yields to ears refined
When harps resound, or Woman chanteth;
True are such pleasures, innocently loved,
By reason sanction'd and by heaven approved.
51
Then seek we not for vast domains,
For sumptuous halls and homes of pleasure;
He more than royal Crœsus gains
Who finds in God his gold and treasure:—
With Him the destitute have boundless store,
But, oh, without Him, Wealth itself is poor!
For sumptuous halls and homes of pleasure;
He more than royal Crœsus gains
Who finds in God his gold and treasure:—
With Him the destitute have boundless store,
But, oh, without Him, Wealth itself is poor!
Our noblest wealth is heaven-born grace
From out the Spirit's heart descending,
Which leaves in men a living trace
Of holy truth, their hearts amending:
Here are deep riches, fit for realms divine,
Gems of pure gold from God's eternal mine.
From out the Spirit's heart descending,
Which leaves in men a living trace
Of holy truth, their hearts amending:
Here are deep riches, fit for realms divine,
Gems of pure gold from God's eternal mine.
| The Poetical Works of Robert Montgomery | |