When the dark hour came on,
Didst, with a breath of heavenly aid,
Strengthen thy Son;

2 O, in the anguish of our night,
Send us down blest relief;
And to the chastened, let Thy might
Hallow the grief!

3 And thou, that, when the starry sky
Saw the dread strife begun,
Didst teach adoring faith to cry,
"Thy will be done!"--

4 By thy meek spirit, thou, of all
That e'er have mourned the chief,
Our Saviour! when the stroke doth fall,
Hallow our grief!

342. 11 & 4s. M. Whittier.

The Angels of Grief.

1 With silence only as their benediction,
God's angels come
Where, in the shadow of a great affliction,
The soul sits dumb.

2 Yet would we say, what every heart approveth,--
Our Father's will,
Calling to Him the dear ones whom he loveth,
Is mercy still.

3 Not upon us or ours the solemn angel
Hath evil wrought;
The funeral anthem is a glad evangel;
The good die not!

4 God calls our loved ones, but we lose not wholly
What He has given;
They live on earth in thought and deed, as truly
As in His heaven.

343. C. M. Wilson.

Angels.

1 O, not when the death-prayer is said,
The life of life departs;
The body in the grave is laid,
Its beauty in our hearts.

2 At holy midnight, voices sweet,
Like fragrance, fill the room;
And happy ghosts, with noiseless feet,
Come brightening through the gloom.

3 We know who sends the visions bright,
From whose dear side they came;
We veil our eyes before Thy light,
We bless our Father's name!

4 This frame, O God, this feeble breath,
Thy hand may soon destroy;
We think of Thee, and feel in death
A deep and holy joy.

5 Dim is the light of vanished years
In glory yet to come;
O idle grief, O foolish tears,
When Jesus calls us home!

344. P. M. Mrs. Hemans.

The Cry of the Afflicted.

1 Lowly and solemn be
Thy children's cry to Thee,
Father divine!
A hymn of suppliant breath,
Owning that life and death
Alike