XLIX.

THE DEW.

"My speech shall distil as the dew."-DEUT. XXXII. 2.

I.

NOON has its monarch risen high;

Eve has its purple hue;

Night decks with countless stars the sky;

The morning has the dew.

II.

What lessons may be learnt from each

Another day may see;

But now the lowliest shall teach

My heart humility.

III.

Praise to our God! his grace is such, That scarce our eyes can greet

The morn, but what we need so much Is lying at our feet.

IV.

Clothed too in smiles: as it would win

A kind and gentle way

To every heart ere it begin
The turmoil of the day.

V.

Thy couch is low, my monitor;
But He who best could preach
Descended often to the shore,

Sublimest truths to teach.

VI.

No need He knew of lofty state,

Or earthly eminence :

Tis wisdom gives the lesson weight,

And truth is eloquence.

VII.

Even such thy teaching on the ground:

Who will in thee may trace,

That peace and safety may be found

Best in the lowest place.

VIII.

The wind that strips the forest bare
Blows harmless over thee;

The sun with all his fiercest glare
But lends thee wings to flee.

IX.

He decks thee even at thy birth
With gems of loveliest hue;

And then, when grown too bright for earth,
Takes up from mortal view.

X.

Brief is thy pleasant sojourn here;

Thy loss too none may mind; But many followed by a tear

Leave less of good behind.

XI.

I trace thee in the springing grass,

And in the bending corn;

And every floweret that I

Rejoices thou wert born.

pass

XII.

Thou art not like so many here,
A friend that comes with speed,
When sunshine joys the bosom cheer,
And then forsakes in need.

XIII.

But often in the hour of gloom,
When thirsty, faint, and spent,
And when they little know from whom
It comes, thine aid is lent.

XIV.

The clouds, though often kind, may fail;

No drop in lake or mere;

The streams dry up in every dale;

But thou still kind art near.

XV.

'Tis pure, 'tis perfect charity
It steals in silence down,

Nor cares that any eye should see
Its works save heaven's alone.

XVI.

So may my days on earth be spent!
Ever may I be found

In lowly place, secure, content,
And good diffusing round!

XVII.

May it suffice that heaven sees,

And like the morning dew,

On wings of light, when heaven shall please, May I soar up from view!

XVIII.

Then, knowing in a happier sphere

A morn without a night,

The same bright sun that decked me here
Shall be my endless light.