Trembling before thine awful throne,
O Lord! in dust my sins I own:
Justice and Mercy for my life
Contend!—Oh, smile, and heal the strife!
The Saviour smiles! Upon my soul
New tides of hope tumultuous roll:
His voice proclaims my pardon found,
Seraphic transport wings the sound!
Earth has a joy unknown in heaven,—
The...
God called the nearest angels who dwell with Him above:
The tenderest one was Pity, the dearest one was Love.
“Arise,” He said, “my angels! a wail of woe and sin
Steals through the gates of heaven, and saddens all within.
“My harps take up the mournful strain that from a lost world swells,
The smoke of torment clouds the light and blights the...
It came upon the midnight clear,
That glorious song of old,
From angels bending near the earth
To touch their harps of gold:
“Peace to the earth, good-will to men
From heaven’s all-gracious King!”
The world in solemn stillness lay
To hear the angels sing.
Still through the cloven skies they come,
With...
Two angels came through the gate of Heaven.
(White and soft is a mother’s breast!)
Stayed them both by the gate of Heaven;
Rested a little on folded wings,
Spake a little of holy things.
(In Heaven alone is perfect rest!)
Over them rose the golden steeps,
Heaven’s castled and golden steeps;
Under them, depth on depth of...
How shall we tell an angel
From another guest?
How, from the common worldly herd,
One of the blest?
Hint of suppressed halo,
Rustle of hidden wings,
Wafture of heavenly frankincense,—
Which of these things?
The old Sphinx smiles so subtly:
“I give no golden rule,—
Yet would I warn thee, World: treat...
When the hours of day are numbered,
And the voices of the night
Wake the better soul that slumbered
To a holy, calm delight,—
Ere the evening lamps are lighted,
And, like phantoms grim and tall,
Shadows from the fitful firelight
Dance upon the parlor wall;
Then the forms of the departed
Enter at the open door...
It came upon the midnight clear,
That glorious song of old,
From angels bending near the earth
To touch their harps of gold:
“Peace to the earth, good-will to men
From heaven’s all-gracious King!”
The world in solemn stillness lay
To hear the angels sing.
Still through the cloven skies they come,
With...
God called the nearest angels who dwell with Him above:
The tenderest one was Pity, the dearest one was Love.
“Arise,” He said, “my angels! a wail of woe and sin
Steals through the gates of heaven, and saddens all within.
“My harps take up the mournful strain that from a lost world swells,
The smoke of torment clouds the light and blights the...
From “The Faërie Queene,” Book II. Canto 8.
AND is there care in heaven? And is there love
In heavenly spirits to these creatures base,
That may compassion of their evils move?
There is:—else much more wretched were the case
Of men than beasts: but O the exceeding grace
Of Highest God! that loves his creatures so,
And all his...
Mellifluous Shakespeare, whose enchanting quill
Commanded mirth or passion, was but Will;
And famous Jonson, though his learnèd pen
He dipped in Castaly, is still but Ben.
Fletcher and Webster, of that learnèd pack
None of the meanest, was but Jack;
Dekker but Tom, nor May, nor Middleton,
And he’s but now Jack Ford that once was John.
