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THE LORD OUR SHEPHERD.

[COTTLE.]

LORD! amid this desert wide

Thou art my shepherd, thou my guide,

From day to day, from year to year,

I shall not want, for thou art near.

Thou hast ten thousand gifts bestow'd,
And strew'd with flowers my mortal road!
Through pastures fair I take my way,
Or by the peaceful waters stray.

All those who call upon thy name,
Shall find thy bounty still the same;
Goodness and mercy shall attend

The man who makes his God his friend.

And when th' appointed time shall come,
That I must seek my narrow home,
Follow, where all the prophets led,
Down to the chambers of the dead;

Close my sad eyes on every scene,
Which once my dear delight had been:
Forsake the fair abodes of men,
And dust to dust return again;

I will not dread, for thou art near,
Thy smile shall calm each rising fear;
Thy rod and staff new joy impart,
And cheer with hope my fainting heart.

Confiding in Jehovah's power,
I then will meet the trying hour;
And hail with my expiring breath,
The cold and lonely vale of death.

Our fathers pass'd that gloomy road,
Awhile, our fathers there abode :
None hath in heaven his anchor cast,
Who hath not Jordan's billows past.
When death shall summon me away,
If thou but smile, my night is day.
That dark and dreary vale once trod,
And I ascend to thee, my God!

PIOUS FRIENDSHIP.

[MRS. BARBAULD.]

HOW blest the sacred tie that binds

In union sweet according minds !

How swift the heavenly course they run,
Whose hearts, whose faith, whose hopes are one!

To each the soul of each how dear!

What jealous love, what holy fear!
How doth the generous flame within

Refine from earth and cleanse from sin!

Their streaming eyes together flow
For human guilt and mortal woe;
Their ardent prayers together rise,
Like mingling flames in sacrifice.

Together both they seek the place

Where God reveals his awful face;

How high, how strong, their raptures swell,
There's none but kindred souls can tell.

Nor shall the glowing flame expire
When nature droops her sickening fire;
Then shall they meet in realms above,
A heaven of joy, because of love.

TO THE SUPREME BEING.

[YOUNG.]

H, may I pant for thee in each desire!

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And with strong faith foment the holy fire; Stretch out my soul in hope, and grasp the prize Which in Eternity's deep bosom lies! At the great day of recompense behold, Devoid of fear, the fatal book unfold! Then wafted upward to the blissful seat, From age to age, my grateful song repeat; My light, my life, my God, my Saviour see, And rival angels in the praise of thee!

THE VANITY OF WORLDLY PLEASURES.

I

[DR. MOORE.]

QUIT the world's fantastic joys;
Her honours are but gilded toys,
Her bliss an empty shade:

Like meteors in the midnight sky,
That glitter for a while and die,
Her glories flash and fade.

Let fools for riches strive and toil,
Let greedy minds divide the spoil,
'Tis all too mean for me:
Above the earth, above the skies,
My bold and fervent wishes rise,
My God! to heaven and thee.

O Source of glory, life and love!
When to thy courts I mount above
On contemplation's wings,

I look with pity and disdain
On all the pleasures of the vain,
On all the pomp of kings.

Thy beauties rising on my sight,
Divinely sweet, divinely bright,
With rapture fill my breast;
Though robb'd of all my worldly store,
In thee I never can be poor,

But must be ever blest.

THE SHORTNESS OF LIFE.

[COWLEY.]

MARK that swift arrow ! how it cuts the air,

How it outruns the following eyes!

Use all persuasions now and try
If thou canst call it back, or stay it there.
That way it went; but thou shalt find
No track is left behind.

Fool! 'tis thy life, and the fond archer thou.
Of all the time thou'st shot away,

I'll bid thee fetch but yesterday,
And it shall be too hard a task to do.
Besides repentance, what canst find
That it hath left behind?

ADVERSITY.

[SOTHEBY.]

ADVERSITY but serves to bind

In closer union mind with mind;

Bids each from each the pang remove,
And draws from grief the balm of love.
Thus underneath the golden sky
That smiles on blissful Araby,
The balsam's lenient tear, confined,
Sleeps in the smooth unbroken rind;
But, kindly flowing from the wound,
Sheds life and healing fragrance round.

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