ASPIRATIONS OF THE SOUL AFTER GOD
My Spouse! in whose presence I live,
Sole object of all my desires,
Who know'st what a flame I conceive
And canst easily double its fires;
How pleasant is all that I meet!
From fear of adversity free
I find even sorrow made sweet;
Because 'tis assigned me by thee.
Transported I see thee display
Thy riches and glory divine;
I have only my life to repay,
Take what I would gladly resign.
Thy will is the treasure I seek,
For Thou art as faithful as strong;
There let me, obedient and meek,
Repose myself all the day long.
My spirit and faculties fail;
Oh finish what love has begun!
Destroy what is sinful and frail,
And dwell in the soul thou hast won!
Dear theme of my wonder and praise,
I cry, who is worthy as thou!
I can only be silent and gaze :
"Tis all that is left of me now.
O glory in which I am lost,
Too deep for the plummet of thought! On an ocean of deity tossed,
I am swallowed, I sink into nought. Yet, lost and absorbed as I seem,
I chant to the praise of my King; And, though overwhelmed by the theme, Am happy whenever I sing.
GRATITUDE AND LOVE TO GOD
ALL are indebted much to Thee
But I far more than all,
From many a deadly snare set free
And raised from many a fall.
Overwhelm me from above,
Daily, with thy boundless love!
What bonds of gratitude I feel
No language can declare;
Beneath the oppressive weight I reel,
'Tis more than I can bear :
When shall I that blessing prove
To return thee love for love?
Spirit of Charity, dispense
Thy grace to every heart;
Expel all other spirits thence,
Drive self from every part;
Charity divine, draw nigh,
Break the chains in which we lie!
All selfish souls, whate'er they feign,
Have still a slavish lot;
They boast of liberty in vain,
Of love, and feel it not.
He whose bosom glows with thee,
He, and he alone, is free.
O blessedness, all bliss above,
When thy pure fires prevail !
Love only teaches what is love;
All other lessons fail:
We learn its name, but not its powers,
Experience only makes it ours.
HAPPY SOLITUDE-UNHAPPY MEN
My heart is easy and my burthen light;
I smile, though sad, when Thou art in my sight:
The more my woes in secret I deplore,
I taste thy goodness, and I love thee more.
There, while a solemn stillness reigns around,
Faith, Love, and Hope within my soul abound;
And while the world suppose me lost in care,
The joys of angels, unperceived, I share.
Thy creatures wrong thee, O Thou Sovereign Good!
Thou art not loved, because not understood;
This grieves me most, that vain pursuits beguile
Ungrateful men, regardless of Thy smile.
Frail beauty and false honour are adored;
While thee they scorn, and trifle with thy Word;
Pass, unconcerned, a Saviour's sorrows by ;
And hunt their ruin with a zeal to die.
THE fountain in its source
No drought of summer fears;
The farther it pursues its course
The nobler it appears.
But shallow cisterns yield
A scanty short supply;
The morning sees them amply filled,
The evening finds them dry.
TRUTH AND DIVINE LOVE REJECTED BY THE WORLD
O Love, of pure and heavenly birth!
O simple Truth, scarce known on earth!
Whom men resist with stubborn will;
And, more perverse and daring still,
Smother and quench with reasonings vain
While error and deception reign.
Whence comes it, that, your power the same
As His on high, from whence you came,
Ye rarely find a listening ear,
Or heart that makes you welcome here?—
Because ye bring reproach and pain,
Where'er ye visit, in your train.
The world is proud, and cannot bear
The scorn and calumny ye share;
The praise of men the mark they mean,
They fly the place where ye are seen;
Pure Love, with scandal in the rear,
Suits not the vain; it costs too dear.
Then, let the price be what it may,
Though poor, I am prepared to pay;
Come shame, come sorrow; spite of tears,
Weakness, and heart-oppressing fears;
One soul, at least, shall not repine
To give you room; come, reign in mine!
THOU hast no lightnings, O Thou Just.
Or I their force should know;
And if Thou strike me into dust,
My soul approves the blow.
The heart that values less its ease
Than it adores thy ways
In thine avenging anger sees
A subject of its praise.
Pleased I could lie, concealed and lost, In shades of central night;
Not to avoid thy wrath, thou knowest, But lest I grieve thy sight.
Smite me, O thou, whom I provoke;
And I will love thee still;
The well-deserved and righteous stroke
Shall please me, though it kill.
Am I not worthy to sustain
The worst thou canst devise? And dare I seek thy throne again, And meet thy sacred eyes?
Far from afflicting, thou art kind;
And in my saddest hours
An unction of thy grace I find
Pervading all my powers.
Alas! thou spar'st me yet again;
And when thy wrath should move,
Too gentle to endure my pain,
Thou sooth'st me with thy love.
I have no punishment to fear;
But, ah! that smile from thee Imparts a pang far more severe Than woe itself would be.
THE SOUL THAT LOVES GOD FINDS HIM EVERYWHERE
O THOU, by long experience tried,
Near whom no grief can long abide ;
My Love! how full of sweet content
I pass my years of banishment!
All scenes alike engaging prove
To souls impressed with sacred Love!
Where'er they dwell, they dwell in Thee;
In heaven, in earth, or on the sea.
To me remains nor place nor time!
My country is in every clime;
I can be calm and free from care
On any shore, since God is there.
While place we seek, or place we shun,
The soul finds happiness in none;
But, with a God to guide our way,
'Tis equal joy to go or stay.
Could I be cast where thou art not,
That were indeed a dreadful lot;
But regions none remote I call,
Secure of finding God in all.
My country, Lord, art Thou alone;
Nor other can I claim or own;
The point where all my wishes meet;
My law, my love; life's only sweet!
I hold by nothing here below;
Appoint my journey, and I go;
Though pierced by scorn, oppressed by pride,
I feel thee good, feel nought beside.
No frowns of men can hurtful prove
To souls on fire with heavenly Love!
Though men and devils both condemn,
No gloomy days arise for them.
Ah, then! to his embrace repair;
My soul, thou art no stranger there;
There Love divine shall be thy guard,
And peace and safety thy reward.
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