158
poems.
Holy communion! dearer far
Than joys that earth bestows;
Thou art life's holy radiant star;
From thee sweet comfort flows.
Than joys that earth bestows;
Thou art life's holy radiant star;
From thee sweet comfort flows.
Strength for the hour of need is given;
Grace, peace, and joy, and love;
The hope of friendship too in heaven,
Our mutual home above.
Grace, peace, and joy, and love;
The hope of friendship too in heaven,
Our mutual home above.
TO A FRIEND.
How oft we view our weakness, and deplore
The chain of circumstance around us thrown,
But barren sands, long heaping on the shore,
(As in fair nature is so often shown,)
Do bear some trees and flowers, and are made
At last a fair retreat, a shelt'ring shade.
The chain of circumstance around us thrown,
But barren sands, long heaping on the shore,
(As in fair nature is so often shown,)
Do bear some trees and flowers, and are made
At last a fair retreat, a shelt'ring shade.
The hand of God indeed may bare the strand
Where bright waves glitter'd; but the treasures borne
Of thought and feeling (like shells unto the land,)
May make us blest; and though the sea-weed's thrown,
Yet we may gleam from all things what is best.
The fly of evening darkens when in rest:[1]
Where bright waves glitter'd; but the treasures borne
Of thought and feeling (like shells unto the land,)
May make us blest; and though the sea-weed's thrown,
Yet we may gleam from all things what is best.
The fly of evening darkens when in rest:[1]
- ↑ The "fire-fly."
