Devotional Verses Founded on and Illustrative of select Texts of Scripture [by Bernard Barton] |
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A SOLILOQUY. |
 | Devotional Verses |  |
93
A SOLILOQUY.
“Unto thee, O Lord, do I lift up my soul.”
—Psalm, xxv. 1.
Once more, lov'd solace of my lonely hours,
Would I renew my intercourse with thee,
Suspended for a time—while Spring's gay flowers,
Her bursting foliage, and her songs of glee
Allured me from my task to budding bowers,
To shady lane, green copse, or blossom'd lea;—
In the fond hope, but not more fond than vain,
Their charms might lend fresh vigour to my strain.
Would I renew my intercourse with thee,
Suspended for a time—while Spring's gay flowers,
Her bursting foliage, and her songs of glee
Allured me from my task to budding bowers,
To shady lane, green copse, or blossom'd lea;—
In the fond hope, but not more fond than vain,
Their charms might lend fresh vigour to my strain.
Mistaken thought! To me shall come no more
The once blithe impulse of a vernal day;
Nor can fair nature's countless charms restore
Aught of congenial freshness to my lay;
The sanguine flush of youth's bright morn is o'er,
The fairy dreams of fancy pass'd away;—
And were they still my own they could not lend
One living charm with thy deep truths to blend.
The once blithe impulse of a vernal day;
Nor can fair nature's countless charms restore
Aught of congenial freshness to my lay;
The sanguine flush of youth's bright morn is o'er,
The fairy dreams of fancy pass'd away;—
And were they still my own they could not lend
One living charm with thy deep truths to blend.
94
Not that I darkly view, or lightly prize,
The beauties and the harmonies of Spring;
Yet is there what green earth, nor laughing skies,
Nor blooming flowers, nor song of birds can bring
Over the spirit;—hid from human eyes
Deep in the heart, like a far holier thing
Than outward nature's richest stores can yield,
The fount of thought and feeling is unseal'd.
The beauties and the harmonies of Spring;
Yet is there what green earth, nor laughing skies,
Nor blooming flowers, nor song of birds can bring
Over the spirit;—hid from human eyes
Deep in the heart, like a far holier thing
Than outward nature's richest stores can yield,
The fount of thought and feeling is unseal'd.
And he who writes of themes which must endure
When times and seasons shall have run their course,
Whose song is truth, unchangeable and sure,
If he aright would feel its truest force,
Must drink of streams unperishing and pure
Which issue from a deeper, holier source;
Looking beyond the fading things of time,
To those which are eternal and sublime.
When times and seasons shall have run their course,
Whose song is truth, unchangeable and sure,
If he aright would feel its truest force,
Must drink of streams unperishing and pure
Which issue from a deeper, holier source;
Looking beyond the fading things of time,
To those which are eternal and sublime.
O! may I now, with no misgiving dread,
Resume the task of many a winter night;
Nor deem devotion's purer influence fled
Because no inly-answ'ring flood of light
From Spring's young glory on my soul is shed:
The just shall walk by faith, and not by sight!
And he who seeks to frame a heavenly song
Through conscious weakness may be render'd strong.
Resume the task of many a winter night;
Nor deem devotion's purer influence fled
Because no inly-answ'ring flood of light
From Spring's young glory on my soul is shed:
The just shall walk by faith, and not by sight!
And he who seeks to frame a heavenly song
Through conscious weakness may be render'd strong.
95
Strong in the might and strength of Him, alone,
Whose spirit down the vale of vision swept,
What time the seer beheld around him strown
Bones dry and lifeless which in silence slept;
These, at the word divine, His power made known,
And on their feet a living army leapt;
So may the spirit He vouchsafes to raise
Revive as from the dead to sing His praise.
Whose spirit down the vale of vision swept,
What time the seer beheld around him strown
Bones dry and lifeless which in silence slept;
These, at the word divine, His power made known,
And on their feet a living army leapt;
So may the spirit He vouchsafes to raise
Revive as from the dead to sing His praise.
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