VOL. II.

Be thou at my right hand,

Then can I never fail ;

Uphold Thou me, and I shall stand,
Fight, and I must prevail.

So when my latest breath

Shall rend the veil in twain,
By death I shall escape from death,
And life eternal gain.

Knowing as I am known,
How shall I love that word,

And oft repeat before the throne,

66

For ever with the LORD!"

Then though the soul enjoy
Communion high and sweet,
While worms this body must destroy,
Both shall in glory meet.

The trump of final doom

Will speak the self-same word,

And heaven's voice thunder through the tomb, "For ever with the LORD!"

The tomb shall echo deep

That death-awakening sound;

The saints shall hear it in their sleep,

And answer from the ground.

Then upward as they fly,

That resurrection-word

Shall be their shout of victory,

That resurrection-word,

That shout of victory,

Once more,

-"For ever with the LORD!"

Amen, so let it be.

38

THE VEIL.

THERE is a veil no mortal hand can draw,
Which hides what eye of mortal never saw ;
Through that (each moment by the dying riven)
Could but a glance be to the living given,
How into nothing, less than nothing, all
Life's vanities, life's verities would fall,
And that alone of priceless worth be deem'd,
Which is most lightly by the world esteem'd!

Enough is known; there is a heaven, a hell; Who 'scapes the last and wins the first doth well: Whither away, my soul !-in which wouldst thou Emerge from life, were death to smite me now?

1834.

HEAVEN IN PROSPECT.

PALMS of glory, raiment bright,
Crowns that never fade away,

Gird and deck the saints in light,
Priests and kings and conquerors they.

Yet the conquerors bring their palms
To the Lamb amidst the throne,
And proclaim, in joyful psalms,
Victory through his cross alone.
Kings for harps their crowns resign,
Crying, as they strike the chords,
"Take the kingdom,-it is thine,
King of kings and Lord of lords."
Round the altar, priests confess,

If their robes are white as snow,
'Twas the Saviour's righteousness,
And his blood that made them so.

ON THE FIRST LEAF OF MISS J.'S ALBUM.

Who were these ?-on earth they dwelt,
Sinners once of Adam's race,
Guilt, and fear, and suffering felt,
But were saved by sovereign grace.

They were mortal, too, like us;

-Ah! when we, like them, shall die,
May our souls, translated thus,
Triumph, reign, and shine on high!

ON THE

FIRST LEAF OF MISS J.'S ALBUM.

WHAT thoughts, beyond the reach of thought
To guess what they may be,
Shall in succession here be brought

From depths no eye can see!

Those thoughts are now upon their way,

Like light from stars unseen,

Though, ere they reach us, many a day

And year may intervene :—

Thoughts, which shall spring in friendship's breast,
Or genius touch with fire;
Thoughts, which good angels may suggest,

Or God himself inspire.

Such, o'er these pages pure and white,

By many a willing hand,

Be writ in characters of light,

And here unfading stand!

That she who owns the whole may find,

Reveal'd in every part,

The trace of some ingenuous mind,

The love of some warm heart.

447

THE SAND AND THE ROCK.

"I will open my dark saying upon the harp.”—Psalm xlix. 4.

PART I.

DESTRUCTION.

I BUILT my house upon the sand,
And saw its image in the sea,
That seem'd as stable as the land,
And beautiful as heaven to me.

For in the clear and tranquil tide,
As in a nether firmament,
Sun, moon, and stars appear'd to glide,
And lights and shadows came and went.

I ate and drank, I danced and sung,

Reclined at ease, at leisure stroll'd,
Collecting shells and pebbles, flung
Upon the beach, for gems and gold.
I said unto my soul, "Rejoice!

In safety, wealth, and pleasure here;”
But while I spake, a secret voice,
Within my bosom, whisper'd "Fear!"
I heeded not, and went to rest,
Prayerless, once more, beneath my
Nor deem'd the eagle on his nest

More peril-free, more tempest-proof.

But in the dead and midnight hour

roof,

A storm came down upon the deep; Wind, rain, and lightning, such a stour, Methought 'twas doomsday in my sleep. I strove, but could not wake,-the stream Beat vehemently on my wall;

I felt it tottering in my dream;
It fell, and dreadful was the fall.

Swept with the ruins down the flood,

I woke; home, hope, and heart were gone; My brain flash'd fire, ice thrill'd my blood; Life, life was all I thought upon.

Death, death was all that met my eye;
Deep swallow'd deep, wave buried wave;
I look'd in vain for land and sky;

All was one sea,-that sea one grave.

I struggled through the strangling tide,
As though a bowstring wrung my neck;
"Help! help!" voice fail'd,-I fain had cried,
And clung convulsive to the wreck.

Not long, for suddenly a spot

Of darkness fell upon my brain, Which spread and press'd, till I forgot All pain in that excess of pain.

PART II.

TRANSITION.

Two woes were past; a worse befell;
When I revived, the sea had fled;
Beneath me yawned the gulf of hell,
Broad as the vanish'd ocean's bed.

Downward I seem'd to plunge through space,
As lightning flashes and expires,
Yet how I knew not―turn'd my face
Away from those terrific fires ;—

And saw, in glory throned afar,

A human form yet all divine;

Beyond the track of sun or star,

High o'er all height it seem'd to shine.

"Twas He who in the furnace walk'd

With Shadrach, and controll'd its power;