Like the sun-flower, ever turning
Meekly to the skies its face;
Still my heart for Thee is burning,
Though Thou hid'st thy grace.

Thus my Father heard me praying;

Drawing near, once more He smiled;
Joyfully I heard Him saying,
Thou art still my child.

I did leave thee but to try thee;
Trying, I have found thee mine;
Now I always will be nigh thee;
All I have is thine.

THE DIVINE LIFE.

["But he, that is joined to the Lord, is one spirit." 1 Cor. vi. 17.]

Он, sacred union with the Perfect Mind!
Transcendent bliss, which Thou alone canst give!
How blest are they, this pearl of price who find,
And dead to earth, have learnt in Thee to live.

Thus, in thine arms of love, Oh God, I lie,
Lost, and forever lost, to all but Thee.
My happy soul, since it hath learnt to die,
Hath found new life in thine Infinity.

Oh, go, and learn this lesson of the Cross;
And tread the way, which saints and prophets trod,
Who, counting life, and self, and all things loss,
Have found in inward death the life of God.

THEY SAY THEIR PATH WITH FLOWERS IS STROWN.

I.

THEY say, their path with flowers is strown,

And all their way is bright;

But as for me, I walk alone,

Encircled with the night.

But do not think my joy the less.
Oh, no! I love to be
Abandoned, in my helplessness,
To deep obscurity.

II.

I love the thunder's voice to hear;
To see the lightnings play;
And smile, when many a danger near
Comes thronging round my way.

'Tis then all human help is vain,
All human hopes o'erthrown;

And, in my great necessity,
I rest in God alone.

IF THERE IS SUNSHINE IN THE FACE.

If there is sunshine in the face,
And joy upon the brow,

Do not suppose, that there's a trace
Of answering joy below.

And what avails the outward light,

Upon the face the smile;
If all within is dark as night,

If all is dead the while.

Deep in the heart the evil lies,
Which nought on earth can cure,
Aversion to the only Wise,

To God, the only Pure.

Oh Thou, who giv'st the heart renewed,
Withhold it not from me,

That, all my enmity subdued,
I may rejoice in Thee.

POWER OF GOD.

Он, Thou, from whom the vaulted sky
Upward to light and beauty sprung,
Who on the lightning's wing dost fly,
And speakest in the thunder's tongue;

Shall such a feeble thing as man,
Whose breath is measured by an hour,
Deride Jehovah's mighty plan,

Or stand against Jehovah's power!

Vain thought is this! Thou King of kings! For Thou dost give to thrones their birth; And with the waving of thy wings

Canst sweep them headlong from the earth.

All things are 'neath thy high command;
Thou art the Father, God of all;

At thy behest the world doth stand,
At thy rebuke the world shall fall,

THE SONG OF THE ANGELS.

I.

THE star was bright o'er Bethlehem's plain,
The shepherds watched their fleecy train,
When sudden gleamed the sky; the tongue
Of angel bands in concert sung.
"Peace and good will to men," their song,
"Good will," while ages roll along;
The Saviour comes, let nations hear,
Be hushed each grief, be wiped each tear.

II.

No more shall war bear iron sway,

Vengeance and wrath shall pass away;
Oppression bind no more its chain,
And gladness dwell on earth again.
The harp, that melted Eden's bower,
Shall breathe once more its soothing power;
And

peace, and praise, and truth shall bless

The world with hope and loveliness.

GOD PRAISED IN HIS WORKS.

JEHOVAH! How creation sounds
Aloud the honors of thy name;
In every star that takes its rounds,
'T is registered in words of flame.

"T is written on the morning flower; 'Tis sounded in the matins loud Of birds in dewy bush and bower;

The lark doth teach it to the cloud.

The herds and flocks on hill and plain,
As well as birds the air that skim;
The fish, that haunt the briny main,
And through its oozy caverns swim;

They all have voice and meaning high,
And all in their own way confess,.
(What none but sinful men deny,)
Thy goodness, wisdom, righteousness.

PROTECTION FROM GOD.

FATHER of all, by all adored,

For whom archangels sweep the lyre!

Oh, be our steps from sin restored,
Oh, grant thy love, avert thine ire!

291