So cured of my folly, yet cured but in part,

I turned to the refuge Thy pity displayed; And still did this eager and credulous heart

Weave visions of promise that bloomed but to fade.

I thought that the course of the pilgrim to heaven Would be bright as the summer, and glad as the

morn:

Thou show'dst me the path-it was dark and uneven, All rugged with rock, and all tangled with thorn.

I dreamed of celestial rewards and renown,

I grasped at the triumph that blesses the brave, I asked for the palm-branch, the robe, and the crown;

I asked, and Thou show'dst me a Cross and a grave.

Subdued and instructed at length to Thy will,

My hopes and my longings I fain would resign; O give me the heart that can wait and be still, Nor know of a wish or a pleasure but Thine!

There are mansions exempted from sin and from woe, But they stand in a region by mortals untrod; There are rivers of joy, but they roll not below; There is rest, but it dwells in the presence of God.

The Almighty.

83

THE ALMIGHTY.

TRANSLATED FROM THE RUSSIAN.

THOU Eternal One! whose presence bright

All space doth occupy-all motion guide;

Unchanged through time's all-devastating flight,
Thou only God! There is no God beside!
Being above all beings! Mighty One!

Whom none can comprehend, and none explore;
Who fill'st existence with Thyself alone;
Embracing all-supporting-ruling o'er-
Being whom we call God-and know no more!

Thy chains the measured universe surround, Upheld by Thee; by Thee inspired with breath! Thou the beginning with the end hast bound, And beautifully mingled Life and Death!

As sparks mount upward with the fiery blaze,
So suns are born, so worlds spring forth from Thee;
And as the spangles in the sunny rays

Shine round the silver snow, the pageantry
Of Heaven's bright army glitters in Thy praise.

A million torches, lighted by Thy hand,
Wander unwearied through the blue abyss;
They own Thy power, accomplish Thy command,
All gay with life, all eloquent with bliss.

What shall we call them? Piles of crystal light A glorious company of golden streams?

Lamps of celestial ether burning bright? Suns lighting systems with their joyous beams? But Thou to these are as the moon to night.

Thou art; directing, guiding all, Thou art! Direct my understanding, then, to Thee;

Control my spirit, guide my wandering heart: Though but an atom 'midst immensity,

Still I am something, fashioned by Thy hand; I hold a middle rank 'twixt Heaven and Earth, On the vast verge of mortal being stand, Close to the realm where angels have their birth, Just on the boundary of the spirit-land!

Creator! Yes! Thy wisdom and Thy word Created me, Thou source of life and good! Thou Spirit of my spirit, and my Lord! Thy Light, Thy love, in their bright plenitude, Filled me with an immortal soul, to spring Over the abyss of death, and bade it wear The garments of Eternal Day, and wing Its heavenly flight beyond this little sphere, Even to its source, to Thee, its Author, Thee!

O thought ineffable! O vision blest! Though worthless our conceptions all of Thee, Yet shall Thy shadowed image fill our breast, And waft its homage to the Deity.

Time.

God! thus alone my lowly thoughts can soar; Thus seek Thy presence. Being wise and good! 'Midst Thy vast works admire, obey, adore; And when the tongue is eloquent no more, The soul shall speak in tears of gratitude!

85

TIME.

ES, all may grace our mortal day,

That warms the heart, and wins the

eye,

And gives each ardent sense to stray

From rapture to satiety,

Wealth, glory, grandeur throned on high,
And that which melts the heart of stone,-

The magic beam of Beauty's eye;

But time glides on,-and all are gone!

Oh, what are all the gauds of earth,

Love's melting smile-young beauty's bloomThe pomp of wealth-the pride of birth, Are these remembered in the tomb?

No! sunk in cold oblivion's gloom

They lie, their very names unknown ;
The mouldering marble tells their doom,-
They lived-time fled, and they are gone!

So shalt thou fall: but dost thou deem
To sleep in peace beneath the sod?
Dash from thy soul that empty dream,

And know thyself, and know thy God.

Nor earth nor time restrain His rod,

And thou, a few short summers flown,
Thou tread'st the path thy father trod,
Thy doom is fixed, and hope is gone!

Chained to the dust, from whence we spring,
Why thus from yon bright skies be driven?
O turn to your eternal King,

Believe, repent, and be forgiven.

Haste, seize the proffered hope of heaven,
While life and light are yet thine own;

Swift as the passing cloud of even
Time glides along, and thou art gone!

"SHOW US THE FATHER."

AVE ye not seen Him, when through parted snows

Wake the first kindlings of the vernal
green?

When 'neath its modest veil the arbutus blows,
And the pure snowdrop bursts its folded screen?
When the wild rose, that asks no florist's care,
Unfoldeth its rich leaves, have ye not seen Him there?
Have ye not seen Him, when the infant's eye,
Through its bright sapphire-windows shows the
mind?

When, in the trembling of the tear or sigh,

Floats forth that essence, trembling and refinedSaw ye not Him, the author of our trust,

Who breathed the breath of life into a frame of dust?