The poetical works of James Montgomery collected by himself |
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TO MY FRIEND, GEORGE BENNET, ESQ., OF SHEFFIELD |
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 | The poetical works of James Montgomery |  |
TO MY FRIEND, GEORGE BENNET, ESQ., OF SHEFFIELD
[_]
On his intended visit to Tahiti, and other islands of the South Sea, where Christianity had been recently established.
Go, take the wings of morn,
And fly beyond the utmost sea;
Thou shalt not feel thyself forlorn,
Thy God is still with thee;
And where his Spirit bids thee dwell,
There, and there only, thou art well.
And fly beyond the utmost sea;
Thou shalt not feel thyself forlorn,
Thy God is still with thee;
And where his Spirit bids thee dwell,
There, and there only, thou art well.
342
Forsake thy father-land,
Kindred, and friends, and pleasant home;
O'er many a rude barbarian strand
In exile though thou roam,
Walk there with God, and thou shalt find
Double for all thy faith resign'd.
Kindred, and friends, and pleasant home;
O'er many a rude barbarian strand
In exile though thou roam,
Walk there with God, and thou shalt find
Double for all thy faith resign'd.
Launch boldly on the surge,
And, in a light and fragile bark,
Thy path through flood and tempest urge,
Like Noah in the ark,
Then tread like him a new world's shore,
Thine altar build, and God adore.
And, in a light and fragile bark,
Thy path through flood and tempest urge,
Like Noah in the ark,
Then tread like him a new world's shore,
Thine altar build, and God adore.
Leave our Jerusalem,
Jehovah's temple and his rest;
Go where no Sabbath rose on them
Whom pagan gloom oppress'd,
Till bright, though late, around their isles,
The Gospel-dawn awoke in smiles.
Jehovah's temple and his rest;
Go where no Sabbath rose on them
Whom pagan gloom oppress'd,
Till bright, though late, around their isles,
The Gospel-dawn awoke in smiles.
Amidst that dawn, from far,
Be thine expected presence shown:
Rise on them like the morning-star
In glory not thine own,
And tell them, while they hail the sight,
Who turn'd thy darkness into light.
Be thine expected presence shown:
Rise on them like the morning-star
In glory not thine own,
And tell them, while they hail the sight,
Who turn'd thy darkness into light.
Point where His hovering rays
Already gild their ocean's brim,
Erelong o'er heaven and earth to blaze;
Direct all eyes to Him,
—The Sun of Righteousness, who brings
Mercy and healing on his wings.
Already gild their ocean's brim,
Erelong o'er heaven and earth to blaze;
Direct all eyes to Him,
—The Sun of Righteousness, who brings
Mercy and healing on his wings.
Nor thou disdain to teach
To savage hordes celestial truth,
To infant-tongues thy mother's speech,
Ennobling arts to youth,
Till warriors fling their arms aside,
O'er bloodless fields the plough to guide.
To savage hordes celestial truth,
To infant-tongues thy mother's speech,
Ennobling arts to youth,
Till warriors fling their arms aside,
O'er bloodless fields the plough to guide.
Train them, by patient toil,
To rule the waves, subdue the ground,
Enrich themselves with nature's spoil,
With harvest-trophies crown'd,
Till coral-reefs, 'midst desert seas,
Become the new Hesperides.
To rule the waves, subdue the ground,
Enrich themselves with nature's spoil,
With harvest-trophies crown'd,
Till coral-reefs, 'midst desert seas,
Become the new Hesperides.
Thus then in peace depart,
And angels guide thy footsteps:—No!
There is a feeling in the heart,
That will not let thee go:
Yet go,—thy spirit stays with me;
Yet go,—my spirit goes with thee.
And angels guide thy footsteps:—No!
There is a feeling in the heart,
That will not let thee go:
Yet go,—thy spirit stays with me;
Yet go,—my spirit goes with thee.
Though the broad world, between
Our feet, conglobe its solid mass;
Though lands and oceans intervene,
Which I must never pass;
Though day and night to thee be changed,
Seasons reversed, and climes estranged;—
Our feet, conglobe its solid mass;
Though lands and oceans intervene,
Which I must never pass;
Though day and night to thee be changed,
Seasons reversed, and climes estranged;—
Yet one in soul,—and one
In faith, and hope, and purpose yet,
God's witness in the heavens, yon sun,
Forbid thee to forget
Those from whose eyes his orb retires,
When thine his morning beauty fires!
In faith, and hope, and purpose yet,
God's witness in the heavens, yon sun,
Forbid thee to forget
Those from whose eyes his orb retires,
When thine his morning beauty fires!
When tropic gloom returns,
Mark what new stars their vigils keep,
How glares the wolf,—the phœnix burns,
And on a stormless deep,
The ship of heaven,—the patriarch's dove,
The emblem of redeeming love.
Mark what new stars their vigils keep,
How glares the wolf,—the phœnix burns,
And on a stormless deep,
The ship of heaven,—the patriarch's dove,
The emblem of redeeming love.
While these enchant thine eye,
O think how often we have walk'd,
Gazed on the glories of our sky,
Of higher glories talk'd,
Till our hearts caught a kindling ray,
And burn'd within us by the way.
O think how often we have walk'd,
Gazed on the glories of our sky,
Of higher glories talk'd,
Till our hearts caught a kindling ray,
And burn'd within us by the way.
Those hours, those walks, are past;
We part;—and ne'er again may meet:
Why are the joys that will not last
So perishingly sweet?
Farewell,—we surely meet again
In life or death;—farewell till then.
We part;—and ne'er again may meet:
Why are the joys that will not last
So perishingly sweet?
Farewell,—we surely meet again
In life or death;—farewell till then.
Sheffield, March 10. 1821.
| The poetical works of James Montgomery | |