Poems and miscellanies selected from the writings of Miss Eliza Townsend Printed but not published |
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A HYMN, FOR FIRST OF MAY. |
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 | Poems and miscellanies selected from the writings of Miss Eliza Townsend |  |
37
A HYMN, FOR FIRST OF MAY.
[1809.]
Lo! all the waste of Winter's past;
The darkened sky, the ocean's roar;
No more is heard the rising blast,
The icy fetters bind no more.
The darkened sky, the ocean's roar;
No more is heard the rising blast,
The icy fetters bind no more.
Lord of the seasons! may we raise
Unblamed, the notes of worship here?
And honest hearts and cheerful praise
Welcome the seed-time of the year.
Unblamed, the notes of worship here?
And honest hearts and cheerful praise
Welcome the seed-time of the year.
The simplest herb, the meanest flower,
Both to their several purpose tend;
Each insect lives its little hour,
Each worm fulfils its destined end.
Both to their several purpose tend;
Each insect lives its little hour,
Each worm fulfils its destined end.
Then even such as we may dare
To ask those aids, enabling man
Within some small degree to bear
His part in thine eternal plan.
To ask those aids, enabling man
Within some small degree to bear
His part in thine eternal plan.
38
Not of the humblest be it said,
They ceased to join the social strife,
While air we breathe and earth we tread
Are full of motion, order, life!
They ceased to join the social strife,
While air we breathe and earth we tread
Are full of motion, order, life!
For knowledge, plenty, peace bestowed,
For life preserved and health enjoyed,
That here no midnight plague has come
Nor noonday pestilence destroyed!
For life preserved and health enjoyed,
That here no midnight plague has come
Nor noonday pestilence destroyed!
Supreme Protector of mankind!
To Thee may we our praise express;
And next, to those on earth assigned
Thy chosen instruments to bless.
To Thee may we our praise express;
And next, to those on earth assigned
Thy chosen instruments to bless.
O, guide us o'er life's wintry sphere,
And through its closing shadows bring
To know in Heaven's eternal year,
Another and a brighter Spring!
And through its closing shadows bring
To know in Heaven's eternal year,
Another and a brighter Spring!
| Poems and miscellanies selected from the writings of Miss Eliza Townsend | |