PARTING WORDS.

"And he said, Let me go, for the day breaketh.”

LET me go, the day is breaking,
Dear companions, let me go;
We have spent a night of waking
In the wilderness below;
Upward now I bend my way,
Part we here at break of day.

Let me go, I may not tarry,

Genesis, xxxii. 26.

Wrestling thus with doubts and fears;

Angels wait my soul to carry,

Where my risen LORD appears; Friends and kindred, weep not so, If ye love me, let me go.

We have travell'd long together,
Hand in hand, and heart in heart,
Both through fair and stormy weather,
And 'tis hard-'tis hard to part,
Yet we must :- “Farewell!” to you;
Answer, one and all, "Adieu!"

'Tis not darkness gathering round me, Which withdraws me from your sight;

Walls of flesh no more can bound me,
But, translated into light,

· Like the lark on mounting wing,
Though unseen, you hear me sing.

Heaven's broad day hath o'er me broken,
Far beyond earth's span of sky;
Am I dead? —Nay, by this token,
Know that I have ceased to die;
Would you solve the mystery,
Come up hither,— come and see.

1837.

IN BEREAVEMENT.

LIFT up thine eyes, afflicted soul!
From earth lift up thine eyes;
Though dark the evening-shadows roll,
And daylight beauty dies,

One sun is set, -a thousand more

Their rounds of glory run,

Where science leads thee to explore

In every star a sun.

Thus, when some long-loved comfort ends,
And Nature would despair,

Faith to the heaven of heavens ascends,
And meets ten thousand there:

First faint and small, then clear and bright,
They gladden all the gloom,

As stars that seem but points of light
The rank of suns assume.

1836.

A DEATH-BED.

"So giveth He his beloved sleep."- Psalm cxxvii. 2.

HER path was like the shining light,
Clear, calm, progressive, perfect day;
At even-tide came sudden night,

Thick darkness fell on all her way,
Amazed, alarm'd, she quail'd with dread,
And cried-"The Comforter is fled!"

It was the tempter's vantage-hour;
Eager and flush'd with hope was he;
He knew the limit of his power,
And struggled hard for victory;
A deathless soul, at life's last gasp,
Seem'd but a hair's breadth from his grasp.

The dire deceiver was deceived,

That soul was in a faithful hand, Even his, in whom her heart believed; Satan before Him could not stand, But fell like lightning to the deep,

So gave He his beloved sleep.

1837.

ELIJAH IN THE WILDERNESS.

1 KINGS, xix.

THUS pray'd the prophet in the wilderness; "GOD of my fathers! look on my distress; My days are spent in vanity and strife, O that the LORD would please to take my life! Beneath the clods through this lone valley spread, Fain would I join the generations dead!"

Heaven deign'd no answer to that murmuring

prayer,

Silence that thrill'd the blood alone was there;

Down sunk his weary limbs, slow heaved his breath,
And sleep fell on him with a weight like death;
Dreams, raised by evil spirits, hover'd near,
Throng'd with strange thoughts, and images of fear;
The' abominations of the Gentiles came ;-
Detested Chemosh, Moloch clad with flame,
Ashtaroth, queen of heaven, with moony crest,
And Baäl, sunlike, high above the rest,

Glared on him, gnash'd their teeth, then sped away,
Like ravening vultures to their carrion-prey,
Where every grove grew darker with their rites,
And blood ran reeking down the mountain-heights: