Poems (Hornblower)/Sonnet (Oh! open to that young and suffering heart)
For works with similar titles, see Sonnet.
SONNET.
Oh! open to that young and suffering heart,
Father of mercies! that bright, blessed ray,
Of power to chase the fiends of care away,
And tenderer thoughts and sweeter hopes impart.
Unfold Thyself, all goodness as Thou art,
All excellence and beauty to his soul,
Be Heaven's own softness in the tears that start,
And every sigh breathed in thy blest control,
Oh! raise him from the tilings of time and earth,
The hopes, and fears, and sorrows born of dust.
To the high glories of his heavenly birth,
And manly duties of his earthly trust.
Till doubt, and grief, and youthful anguish cease,
And Thou thyself become his strength and peace.
Father of mercies! that bright, blessed ray,
Of power to chase the fiends of care away,
And tenderer thoughts and sweeter hopes impart.
Unfold Thyself, all goodness as Thou art,
All excellence and beauty to his soul,
Be Heaven's own softness in the tears that start,
And every sigh breathed in thy blest control,
Oh! raise him from the tilings of time and earth,
The hopes, and fears, and sorrows born of dust.
To the high glories of his heavenly birth,
And manly duties of his earthly trust.
Till doubt, and grief, and youthful anguish cease,
And Thou thyself become his strength and peace.