Poems of Purpose and Sketches in Prose of Scottish Peasant Life and Character in Auld Langsyne, Sketches of Local Scenes and Characters, With a Glossary. By Janet Hamilton |
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 | Poems of Purpose and Sketches in Prose |  |
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On the arrival of the S.S. United Kingdom at New York, on February 2, after a protracted and stormy voyage from Greenock, having on board the wife and nine children of the Rev. John James of Canada, who was anxiously awaiting them.
Thank God! thank God! the fearful spell
That chilled our hearts is broke; no more,
On yon dark ocean's stormy shore,
The husband, father, waits and weeps,
And while he mournful vigil keeps,
Conjures up visions from the deep
That rack his soul and “murder sleep;”
For if he sleep, in troubled dreams
He hears his children's drowning screams,
And, sinking 'midst the billowy strife,
He sees his loved and loving wife.
He wakes; and wandering to the pier,
Far seaward gazes. Cheer thee, cheer!
A stately vessel nears the strand;
Upon the deck he sees them stand—
A youthful group. “My own, my own!”
He cries. But they are not alone:
The mother, smiling through her tears,
While in her arms a babe she bears,
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Though long detained and tempest-toss'd,
Till hope was waning in despair;
But now, thank God, he clasps them there,
And soon will bear them to a home
Where persecution may not come;
Where he may break, uncheck'd by strife,
To hungry souls the bread of life.
And He who rode upon the storm,
When in its most appalling form
It beat upon the ocean barque
That held thy all—thy treasure ark,
Not ocean's wildest waves could whelm,
For He was pilot at the helm.
Oh may His all-protecting hand
Be o'er thee still, by sea and land;
And, ere thy sun of life go down,
May many souls thy labours crown;
Be thine a home of peace and love
On earth—and heaven thy home above!
| Poems of Purpose and Sketches in Prose | |