Collect for Aid against all Perils.
“Lighten our darkness, we beseech Thee, O Lord.”
—Prayer Book.
“Lighten our darkness!”—down yon placid west
The day is dying with a dream-like glow;
The babe creeps closer to its mother's breast,
And o'er the forest chilling eve-winds blow.
A mystic robe of shadow and of shade
Enwraps creation, in this pensive hour;
Garden, and grove, and every woodland-glade
Seem all pervaded with religious power.
Sea, air, and sky, as night-glooms onward steal,
Wind round the heart an interwoven spell;
And soul and sentiment alike can feel
A voiceless sympathy with Day's farewell.
Fountain of Radiance! be our guardian-friend,
Whose smile almighty makes a noon of night;
Whate'er dark perils may around us blend,
Let but that beam,—and all within, is bright!
Then will Thy spirit-rays of truth and love
Dart pure effulgence on each hour of prayer,
Till Faith shall realise her Lord above,
And hail the lustres which encrown Him, there.
Safe through this day of fever, care, and toil,
Thy secret Grace our perill'd life has kept;
And shielded, in the midst of earth's turnmoil,
The hands which struggled, or the hearts that wept.
But now, as night-born dangers round us throng
In aidless slumber while these bodies rest,
Giver of Sleep!
to Whom our dreams belong,
May Heaven's own balm allay the ruffled breast!
Camp'd near each couch, let min'st'ring Angels be
To guard the sleeper, and defend his soul;
While holy visions, sent from heaven and Thee,
Chasten the fancy with divine control.
All “perils” vanish, where Thy power doth reign;
Darkness and danger prove unharmful things;
Hell dares not tempt, nor Hate inflict one pain
When Slumber dreams beneath celestial Wings.
Light, is Thy name, and Love, Thy nature, too,
Since, Lord, on each Thy Church must e'er rely;
And, thus, in all Thou bid'st her dare or do,
Find perfect bliss in Thine approving eye.
Waking or sleeping,—boots it not, for those
Whose inward All is God by grace reveal'd:—
In harrowing labour, or in hush'd repose,
Their life is heavenward, in the Lord conceal'd.
“Lighten our darkness,” thus, we lift the prayer,—
Yet, light and dark are both alike to Thee,
Head of that Church, Whose home is everywhere
Where faith is vital, and the conscience free.
