42

LOVE PURE AND FERVENT.

LOVE FAITHFUL IN THE ABSENCE OF THE BELOVED.

Vol. 4, Cantique 49.

IN vain ye woo me to your harmless joys,
Ye pleasant bow'rs, remote from strife and noise;
Your shades, the witnesses of many a vow,
Breath'd forth in happier days, are irksome now;
Denied that smile 'twas once my heav'n to see,
Such scenes, such pleasures are all past with me.

In vain he leaves me, I shall love him still;
And though I mourn, not murmur at his will;
I have no cause-an object all divine
Might well grow weary of a soul like mine;
Yet pity me, great God! forlorn, alone,
Heartless and hopeless, Life and Love all gone.

LOVE PURE AND FERVENT.

Vol. 4, Cantique 31.

JEALOUS, and with Love o'erflowing,
God demands a fervent heart:
Grace and bounty, still bestowing,
Calls us to a grateful part.

Oh! then, with supreme affection,
His paternal will regard!

If it cost us some dejection,
Ev'ry sigh has its reward,

THE ENTIRE SURRENDER.

Perfect Love has pow'r to soften
Cares that might our peace destroy,
Nay, does more-transforms them often,
Changing sorrow into joy.

Sov'reign Love appoints the measure,
And the number of our pains;
And is pleas'd when we find pleasure
In the trials he ordains.

THE ENTIRE SURRENDER.

Vol. 4, Cantique 77.

PEACE has unveil'd her smiling face,
And woos thy soul to her embrace;
Enjoy'd with ease, if thou refrain

From earthly Love, else sought in vain;
She dwells with all who Truth prefer,
But seeks not them, who seeks not Her.

Yield to the Lord, with simple heart,
All that thou hast, and all thou art ;
Renounce all strength but strength divine;
And peace shall be for ever thine :-
Behold the path which I have trod,
My path, 'till I go home to God.

43

44

GOD HIDES HIS PEOPLE.

THE PERFECT SACRIFICE.

Vol. 4, Cantique 74.

I place an off 'ring at thy shrine,
From taint and blemish clear,
Simple and pure in its design,
Of all that I hold dear.

I yield thee back thy gifts again,
Thy gifts which most I prize;
Desirous only to retain

The notice of thine eyes.

But if, by thine ador'd decree,
That blessing be denied,
Resign'd, and unreluctant, see,

My ev'ry wish subside.

Thy will in all things I approve;

Exalted or cast down,
Thy will in ev'ry state, I love,

And even in thy frown.

GOD HIDES HIS PEOPLE.

Vol. 4, Cantique 42.

TO lay the soul that loves him, low,
Becomes the Only-wise;

To hide beneath a veil of woe

The children of the skies.

GOD HIDES HIS PEOPLE.

Man, though a worm, would yet be great;
Though feeble, would seem strong;
Assumes an independent state,

By sacrilege and wrong.

Strange the reverse, which once abas'd,
The haughty creature proves!

He feels his soul a barren waste,
Nor dares affirm, he loves.

Scorn'd by the thoughtless and the vain,
To God he presses near;
Superior to the world's disdain,

And happy in it's sneer.

Oh! welcome, in his heart he says,
Humility and shame!

Farewell the wish for human praise,
The music of a name !

But will not scandal mar the good
That I might else perform?
And can God work it, if he would,

By so despis'd a worm?

Ah! vainly anxious !-leave the Lord

To rule thee, and dispose ;

Sweet is the mandate of his word,

And gracious all he does.

He draws from human littleness
His grandeur and renown,

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46

THE SECRETS OF DIVINE LOVE

And gen'rous hearts with joy confess
The triumph all his own.

Down then with self-exalting thoughts,
Thy faith and hope employ
To welcome all that he allots,
And suffer shame with joy.

No longer, then, thou wilt encroach
On his eternal right;

And he shall smile at thy approach,
And make thee his delight.

THE SECRETS OF DIVINE LOVE ARE TO BE KEPT.

Vol. 3. Cantique 48.

SUN! stay thy course, this moment stay

Suspend th' o'erflowing tide of day,

Divulge not such a Love as mine,
Ah! hide the mystery divine,

Lest man, who deems my glory shame,
Should learn the secret of my flame.

Oh night! propitious to my views,
Thy sable awning wide diffuse;
Conceal alike my joy and pain,
Nor draw thy curtain back again,
Though morning, by the tears she shows,
Seems to participate my woes.