be:

"Thou sentinel on high! Will night not vanish soon?
We doubt the sheen of stars and quiet path of moon;
We placed our trust in Thee. Enlight the races striving!
Will night yet long endure? Is morning's watch arriving."[B]

Other poems followed. By this time, Johan, who had, from an early
period, shown a liking for the clerical profession, had passed all his
preliminary examinations with honors, and been ordained to the pastoral
office. He commanded attention, at once, as a preacher. But he clung to
the muses, or the muses clung to him; and his lyre, having been tuned in
harmony with his sacred calling, he soon began to distinguish himself as
a writer of hymns. Some of the finest hymns of which the Swedish
language can boast, are from the pen of Johan Olof Wallin. Nor were
secular themes wholly neglected. On January 20, 1808, on the occasion of
the unveiling of the statue of King Gustavus Third, he produced the
famous Dithyramb, a song which has taken a permanent and honored place
in Swedish literature. The same year he presented a similar poem to the
Swedish Academy, and was rewarded with a prize of two hundred ducats,
the highest prize ever given by the Academy.

In all great questions of a national or international character, Wallin
took a deep and lively interest; and the powerful influence, which he
exerted with tongue and pen, was always wielded in favor of the right.
How well he knew how to seize upon and turn to account existing
circumstances and passing events, is strikingly illustrated by his poem
on George Washington; his Dithyramb celebrating the union of Sweden and
Norway, and his splendid ode on the victories of the allies at Leipzig,
Dennewitz and Grossbeeren. The last named composition had an immense
success; and it was circulated by thousands among the soldiers of the
Swedish army abroad.

Wallin was at home in the region of sublime and lofty thought; but his
muse was not one-sided, or in any sense monotonous. Poems of a calm,
reflective character flowed gracefully from his pen; and, when occasion
called for the one or the other, he revealed rich veins of satire and
humor. One great secret of his literary success, both as a poet and
preacher, lay in the simplicity of his style. With him there was never
any striving after effect. His thoughts, whether of a lofty or
commonplace character, whether hortatory or didactic, whether satirical
or humorous, always found natural and easy ex