30. MARIA MALLEVILLE ALLEN.
My MALLEVILLE! mature like fruitful vine
About my house, while flourishing most fair
Thou'rt smitten to the ground. Sighs fill the air,
And here no longer can I call thee mine.
But how can I against God's will repine?
He will restore thee, and my loss repair,
Sweet, growing, endless joys with thee to share,
Aud with the holy who in glory shine!
E'en now thy spirit lives, and joins the song,
Which breaks like torrent from the harps of gold Resounding through heav'n's arches by the throng Of ransom'd sinners and with joys untold,—
"Let Wisdom, Honor, Pow'r in highest strain To thee, O LAMB, be paid, for Thou wast slain !"
I dare not, Lord, claim aught of good from thee
As in reward of virtue my just right;
Up to thy throne on high, all-glorious, bright,
I dare not lift my eyes. Humility
Befits the child of sin and misery:
Repenting tears may well bedim his sight.
Yes, Savior, on my guilty breast I smite,
And Mercy! Mercy!" this is all my cry.
'Twas mercy, in thy vast, amazing love,
Awaking wonder in th' angelic throng,
That brought thee down from God's right hand
Upon the cross to die, t' atone for wrong.
Then wilt thou not my sad petition hear,
And give me peace and hope, instead of fear?
Two days had pass'd; the anxious search was vain
The wilder'd child in forest wide to find;
But pity call'd once more the neighbors kind
Each darksome nook t' explore with care and pain.
In far-stretch'd rank, like fleet upon the main,
Well rang'd by wisdom are their toils combin'd,—
With law-"If dead, a single horn shall wind:-
Alive, let gun and horn ring merry strain!"—
"Hark!"-as the Father lay with ear to ground,
He cried ;—" Alas, my wife, the single horn!— Oh no! Gun, horn, and shout the forest shake!"So, when the wilder'd, sinning man is found, By grace recover'd and to goodness born, From angel hosts the shouts of joy outbreak.
Of giant height, carv'd from basaltic block,
Two snakes the monster bears for arms and hands;
On either side a vulture's wing expands;
The noble face of man its features mock.
Beneath, the fangs of Rattlesnake unlock;
On Tiger's claws the fearful idol stands;
Men's hearts and skull do make his necklace bands;
Meet ornaments, that ev'ry gazer shock! Here is the form of true idolatry!
Worship of serpent—vulture—tiger god,—
Curst Lucifer, the rebel flung to hell!
Can Christians to such idol bow the knee?
The idol WAR is such; thus cloth'd, thus shod, Inwreath'd with skulls, hissing with malice fell!
34. GOD OUR SAFETY. Psalm 91.
Who in the Most High's secret place doth dwell,
Beneath th' Almighty's shadow shall abide.
God is my refuge, where I safe may hide,—
My fortress strong and inaccessible.
From thee the noisome plague he will repel,
And safe from fowler's snare, with skill applied;
Although a thousand fall down at thy side,
No evil shall approach thy house or cell.
His kind, protecting wings o'er thee shall spread;
His truth shall be to thee a brazen shield,
His promise stronger than a tow'r on high;
Of nightly terror be not then afraid,
Nor of the day's swift arrow: 'tis reveal'd,
Thy God, thy trust, shall lift thee to the sky!
35. THE BELIEVER ENCOURAGED.
Pilgrim! do thickest clouds of grief and woe
Shut from thine eye that sweet and heav'nly light,
So lately spread upon thy pathway bright ?
Is a dark wing outstretch'd o'er all below?
Fear not more glorious beams shall surely flow
From fount perennial on thy gladden'd sight.
Thy God is faithful. In his love and might
Thou'rt safe; and naught thy bliss can overthrow.
Gaze now upon the wondrous cross. There hung,—
Victim for sins, which claim'd avenging hell,—
God's own beloved Son in agony:
Then hear the strains in heav'nly arches sung.
Can He, who gave the gift unspeakable,
Deny thee strength, and hope, and light, and joy?
36. ON REV. DR. JOHN CODMAN.
CODMAN, in early paths of life my friend,
When we together walk'd the flow'ry way
Of science, nor from virtue went astray,
Where Charles's stream by Harvard's walls doth wend;
Then woven were the ties, no force can rend—
The ties of Christian love; from day to day
Our constant aim, our constant, firm essay,
God's Truth first known, its dictates to attend.-
Through many a year and many a changing scene
Our early bond unbroken, when at last,
As all thy earthly prospects were o'ercast,
I bid farewell to thee with anguish keen,
Then did'st thou say,-"We meet again aboveThis faith I have-where sits ETERNAL LOVE!"
NORTHAMPTON GRAVE-YARD.
Thick are the branches of o'ershad'wing trees,
Of deep, unfading green: does this proclaim,
That many a sleeper here hath deathless name,
Immortal glory by God's just decrees?
These monumental stones no eye that sees-
Of whitest marble as for purest fame,
Recording deeds of high and holy aim—
But must their forms approve. Each passing breeze
Bears richest odors from these graves, where rest
The fathers and their children; men of prayer,
Of faith, and love, and ev'ry virtue blest.-
For the great rising day be it our care
To be ourselves companions of the wise;
With them to meet our Savior in the skies.
38. THE LORD'S PRAYER.
Our heav'nly Father, whom we fear and love,
Hallow'd by all thy children be thy name;
Thy kingdom come-an empire without blame;
Let men obey thee, like the blest above.
Give us this day our daily bread; remove
Our guilt, as we forgive a brother's shame;
Let not temptation urge its mighty claim,
Nor web of evil be around us wove;
For thine the kingdom is, and thine the praise;
And thine the pow'r, which no resistance knows:
To thee, O God, be endless glory given.-
Thus will I pray, while heart within me plays,
Or tongue is free my feelings to disclose,
Till I shall join the choral song in heaven.
PRAISE TO GOD. Psalm 148.
Praise ye the Lord. Ye Angels, give him praise
And all his hosts throughout the heav'ns on high;
Both sun and moon, and stars that fill the sky,
For his command made all your lights to blaze.
Let all earth's hosts their voices loud upraise;
Ye mountains proud that human feet defy,
And dragons which in ocean-deeps do lie;
Fire, hail, and vapors, tempests that amaze
The seaman in his barque; the drifting snow;
All lofty cedars and each fruitful tree;
The fowl that fly, and beasts that creep below;
All kings and people, old and young, come ye,
And praise God's name, all glorious, good, and
great,-
God's name, in majesty o'er all elate!
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