Here up and down I'm driven; What hath my whole life ever As long as I have pow'r Until the morning light. And on the ways I've wander'd Rag'd, undeserv'd by me, So liv'd the honor'd fathers In whose footsteps we tread, To his right dwelling came. How rough too and uneven The way that Isaac trod, Oft sank his fainting heart. The holy souls and blesséd Went forward on their race, They chang'd with hearts distresséd Their wonted dwelling-place: They hither went and thither, Great crosses bore each day, Till death came to deliver, Them in the grave to lay. In patience am I giving Than such have liv'd below? Here must we upwards strive; Who fights not well shall never While on the earth I'm staying, I would not be delaying For aye in this strange tent. Along the paths I wander My home is high above me, Praise Him whose heart doth love me, All in His hand of might, Who orders and prepareth What good seems in His sight. For home my tir'd heart yearneth, From earth away it turneth From all I've here pass'd through. My spirit's thirst allaying, The dwelling is unholy, The trouble is too great. Where I've so long remainéd When soul and body sever, Thou, who my Joy art ever, Where I shall ever shine, There I'll be ever living I'll celebrate in glory Thine ev'ry mighty deed, My portion have before Thee, LET ME HASTE TO JOIN THY BLISS. HORATIUS BONAR. SAFE at home, where the dark tempter roams not, How I have envied thy far happier lot! Already resting where the evil comes not, The tear, the toil, the woe, the sin forgot. O safe in port, where the rough billow breaks not, Where the wild sea-moan saddens thee no more; Where the remorseless stroke of tempest shakes not ;When, when shall I too gain that tranquil shore? O bright, amid the brightness all eternal, A land without a serpent or a snare. Away, above the scenes of guilt and folly, Let me make haste to join thy earlier bliss. Another battle fought, and oh, not lost— |