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rings from our blighted hopes, that one by one Drop from us in our wrestle with the strife And natural passions of our stately youth. And thus we fall beneath life's summer sun. Each step conducts us through an opening door Into new halls of being, hand in hand With grave Experience, until we command The open, wide-spread autumn fields, and store The full ripe grain of Wisdom and of Truth. As on life's tott'ring precipice we stand, Our sins like withered leaves are blown about the land. {164} III. Oh, holy sabbath morn! thrice blessed day Of solemn rest, true peace, and earnest prayer. How many hearts that never knelt to pray Are glad to breathe thy soul-sustaining air. I sit within the quiet woods, and hear The village church-bell's soft inviting sound, And to the confines of the loftiest sphere Imagination wings its airy round; A myriad spirits have assembled there, Whose prayers on earth a sweet acceptance found. I go to worship in Thy House, O God! With her, thy young creation bright and fair; Help us to do Thy will, and not despair, Though both our hearts should bend beneath Thy chastening rod. {165} IV. The birds are singing merrily, and here A squirrel claims the lordship of the woods, And scolds me for intruding. At my feet The tireless ants all silently proclaim The dignity of labour. In my ear The bee hums drowsily; from sweet to sweet Careering, like a lover weak in aim. I hear faint music in the solitudes; A dreamlike melody that whispers peace Imbues the calmy forest, and sweet rills Of pensive feeling murmur through my brain, Like ripplings of pure water down the hills That slumber in the moonlight. Cease, oh, cease! Some day my weary heart will coin these into pain. {166} V. Blest Spirit of Calm that dwellest in these woods! Thou art a part of that serene repose That ofttimes lingers in the solitudes Of my lone heart, when the tumultuous throes Of some vast Grief have borne me to the earth. For I have fought with Sorrow face to face; Have tasted of the cup that brings to some A frantic madness and delirious mirth, But prayed and trusted for the light to come, To break the gloom and darkness of the place. Through the dim aisles the sunlight penetrates,
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