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The Poems of Winthrop Mackworth Praed

With a Memoir by the Rev. Derwent Coleridge. Fourth Edition. In Two Volumes

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376

THE SABBATH.

I

For whom was the Sabbath made?—
It brings repose and rest;
It hushes study's aching head,
Ambition's anxious breast:
The slave that digs the mine,
The serf that ploughs the soil,
For them it was ordained to shine;—
It is for all that toil.

II

For whom was the Sabbath made?—
It opens the Book of Peace,
Which tells of flowers that never fade,
Of songs that never cease:
If the hopes you nursed decline,
If the friends you cherished die,
For you it was ordained to shine;—
It is for all that sigh.

377

III

For whom was the Sabbath made?—
It calls the wretch to prayer,
Whose soul the noonday thoughts upbraid
And the midnight visions scare:
It calls thee to the shrine;
Fear'st thou to enter in?
For thee it was ordained to shine—
It is for all that sin.