Memoir and remains of the Rev. James D. Burns ... By the late Rev. James Hamilton [i.e. J. D. Burns] |
 |
['Tis not the way that lay so bright me] |
 | Memoir and remains of the Rev. James D. Burns |  |
['Tis not the way that lay so bright me]
“I will bring thee by a way that thou knowest not.”
—Isa. xlii. 16.
'Tis not the way that lay so bright me,
When youth stood flush'd on Hope's enchanted ground,
No cloud in the blue sky then bending o'er me,
No desert spot in all the landscape round.
When youth stood flush'd on Hope's enchanted ground,
No cloud in the blue sky then bending o'er me,
No desert spot in all the landscape round.
192
Fair visions, glimmering through the distance, beckon'd
My buoyant steps along the sunny way,
Sweet voices thrill'd me, till I fondly reckon'd
That life would be one long, glad summer day.
My buoyant steps along the sunny way,
Sweet voices thrill'd me, till I fondly reckon'd
That life would be one long, glad summer day.
This was the path my feet had gladly taken,
And, blindly lured by that deceitful gleam,
I would have wander'd on by God forsaken,
Till death awoke me from the fatal dream.
And, blindly lured by that deceitful gleam,
I would have wander'd on by God forsaken,
Till death awoke me from the fatal dream.
Alas! in youth by Eden's gate we linger,
In its green bowers we fain would make abode,
Till the stern angel-warder, with calm finger,
Points the feet outward to the desert road.
In its green bowers we fain would make abode,
Till the stern angel-warder, with calm finger,
Points the feet outward to the desert road.
My pleasant path in sudden darkness ended,
My footsteps slipp'd, my hopes were well-nigh gone,
I could but pray, and as my prayer ascended,
Thy face, O Father, through the darkness shone.
My footsteps slipp'd, my hopes were well-nigh gone,
I could but pray, and as my prayer ascended,
Thy face, O Father, through the darkness shone.
And by that light I saw the cross of trial,
The landmark of the way my Saviour went,
The upward path of pain and self-denial,
And thou didst point me to the steep ascent.
The landmark of the way my Saviour went,
The upward path of pain and self-denial,
And thou didst point me to the steep ascent.
A way I knew not! winding, rough, and thorny,
So dark at times that I no path might see,
But Thou hast been my guide through all the journey,
Its steepness has but made me lean on Thee.
So dark at times that I no path might see,
But Thou hast been my guide through all the journey,
Its steepness has but made me lean on Thee.
And onward still I go in calm assurance
That Thou wilt needful help and guidance lend,
That strength will come for every day's endurance,
Grace all the way and glory at the end.
That Thou wilt needful help and guidance lend,
That strength will come for every day's endurance,
Grace all the way and glory at the end.
1859.
| Memoir and remains of the Rev. James D. Burns | |