INVOCATION TO HOPE.
O, come and sit beside my hearth,
Thou dearest guest of all on earth:
Come with thy kindly voice and smile
And help my weariness beguile,
Thou dearest guest of all on earth:
Come with thy kindly voice and smile
And help my weariness beguile,
Wilt thou to me sweet counsel give
Of how I may serenely live,
I'm glad thou hast not tarried late,
Lest I perchance should war with faith.
Of how I may serenely live,
I'm glad thou hast not tarried late,
Lest I perchance should war with faith.
For I have friends that careless prove—
They harken not to words of love;
And hast thou known of such before,
And they returned to vex no more?
They harken not to words of love;
And hast thou known of such before,
And they returned to vex no more?
Will see I am by care opprest,
My hands are tired, my brain distressed;
What, would not ask these cares removed?
So sweet to toil for those beloved.
My hands are tired, my brain distressed;
What, would not ask these cares removed?
So sweet to toil for those beloved.
But sure my griefs are hard to bear
So heavy and so great a share:
Is't wrong to mourn those passed away
To happiness that lasts for aye?
So heavy and so great a share:
Is't wrong to mourn those passed away
To happiness that lasts for aye?
Well what of pains that know no cure,
If I still patiently endure,
Rejoicing? Is it sure at last
When care and grief and pain are past?
If I still patiently endure,
Rejoicing? Is it sure at last
When care and grief and pain are past?
I thank thee, Hope; thou art the best
Of earthly friends the tenderest,
But stay with me, for all the while
I need thy kindly voice and smile.
Of earthly friends the tenderest,
But stay with me, for all the while
I need thy kindly voice and smile.