COMMINATION.* THE prayers are o'er: why slumberest thou so long, Why swell'st thou not, like breeze from mountain cave, High o'er the echoing nave, The white rob'd priest, as otherwhile to guide, A mourner's tale of shame and sad decay The widow'd Spouse of Christ: with ashes crown'd, She lingers in the porch for grief and fear, O is it nought to you? that idly gay, But if her warning tears in vain be spent, * Each awful curse, that on Mount Ebal rang, Out of that silver trump, whose tones of old And who can blame the mother's fond affright,† ["A Commination, or denouncing of God's anger and judgments against sinners, with certain prayers, to be used on the first day of Lent, and at other times, as the ordinary shall appoint." This service is not retained in the Liturgy of the American Church.] Alluding to a beautiful anecdote in the Greek Anthology, tom. i. 180, ed. Jacobs. See Pleasures of Memory, p. 133. Her infant sees, and springs with hurried hand When to her bird, too early scap'd the nest, Smiling he turns and spreads his little wing, The rod of discipline, the robe of shame- Only return and love. But ye perchance With thine own lips to sentence all thy sin; Absolv'd, in thankful sacrifice to part For ever with thy sullen heart, Nor on remorseful thoughts to brood, and stain The glory of the Cross, forgiven and cheer'd in vain. "While on the cliff with calm delight she kneels, FORMS OF PRAYER TO BE USED AT SEA. When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee. Isaiah xliii. 2. THE shower of moonlight falls as still and clear As where sweet flowers some pastoral garden cheer The wild winds rustle in the piping shrouds, Like summer fields, beneath the shadowy clouds Thou too art here with thy soft inland tones, The lonely ocean learns thy orisons, When storms are high, or when the fires of war Thou breath'st a note like music from afar, Tempering rude hearts with calm angelic force. Far, far away, the home-sick seaman's hoard, Like flower-leaves in a precious volume stor'd, Some heart too weary of the restless world; That o'er the brightening billow streams unfurl'd, * [The allusion is to the British flag, bearing a Cross, which is always displayed on Sundays.] O kindly soothing in high Victory's hour, In whose sweet presence Sorrow dares not lower, Too high for earth; what mother's heart could spare Her flower and hope? but thou art with him there, Fondly as if the green turf wrapt his head One moment and the seeds of life shall spring And happy warriors triumph with their King [* And there was no more sea. Rev. xxi. 1. GUNPOWDER TREASON.* [NOVEMBER 5.] As thou hast testified of me at Jerusalem, so must thou also bear witness at Rome. Acts xxiii. 11. BENEATH the burning eastern sky The widow'd Church to weep stood by, Now, journeying westward, evermore At Rome she wears it, as of old By monarchs clad in gems and gold, She mourns that tender hearts should bend And upon Saint or Angel spend The love that should be thine. By day and night her sorrows fall * [The 5th of November is kept as a holiday by the Church of England in commemoration of the wonderful preservation vouchsafed to her on that day, in the year 1605, by the discovery of the Gunpowder Plot.] |