132 THE ETERNAL GOODNESS. I know not of His hate-I know I dimly guess from blessings known And, with the chastened Psalmist, own I long for household voices gone, I know not what the future hath Assured alone that life and death His mercy underlies. And if my heart and flesh are weak To bear an untried pain, The bruised reed He will not break, No offering of my own I have, THE ETERNAL GOODNESS. 133 And so beside the Silent Sea I wait the muffled oar; No harm from Him can come to me On ocean or on shore. I know not where His islands lift Their fronded palms in air; I only know I cannot drift O brothers! if my faith is vain, And Thou, O Lord! by whom are seen Thy creatures as they be, Forgive me if too close I lean My human heart on Thee! J. G. WHITTIER. 134 GROWING IN GRACE. GROWING IN GRACE. THIS did not once so trouble me That only when we love, we find The love they should bestow. But now we only think with shame And when we gave yet slighter heed The woes and wants of men. THE CONTRAST. With this our pride repress, And give us grace, a growing store, And may esteem it less. 135 TRENCH. THE CONTRAST. GO OUT into the crowded streets The cares that weigh thy spirit down, The thought that swells for utterance, No face puts off its careless smile Nor any pause while hurrying on, To ask why thou art glad. Thou art but one—a grain of sand— While ocean hurries on; Thousands like thee are swept away, Yet none perceives they're gone. 136 TROUBLED. Go to thy closet! shut the door, To know how great that human soul Before the sigh escapes thy lips, Or sweet thanksgiving words ascend, Though myriad souls, in myriad worlds, Yet thou art near and dear, as though O, let the Cleanser enter in, And purify thy heart; For thou must live the spirit's life, S. TROUBLED. I VEX my soul with life's great problem; sit I turn to find the light has slipped away. |