Poems (Toke)/Saint Stephen's day

4623706Poems — Saint Stephen's dayEmma Toke
SAINT STEPHEN'S DAY.
O LORD! in all our trials here,
Whate'er those trials be,
Help us, without one doubt or fear,
To cast our care on Thee;
To look from earth to yon bright sky,
And there, by faith behold
The glories hid from mortal eye,
To mortal ear untold.

And if contempt, reproach, or loss,
We suffer for Thy Name,
Teach us to triumph in the cross,
To glory in the shame;
With gentle words and actions kind,
Requite our bitterest foe,
And as we mercy hope to find,
So mercy to bestow.

Oh for his spirit! martyr true!
Who, with his last faint breath,
Prayed for the fierce, relentless crew
That wrought his bloody death!
Oh for his faith! who even there,
Soft as an angel, smiled,
And with one calm, confiding prayer,
Slept like a weary child.