Creator, yes! Thy wisdom and Thy word O thoughts ineffable! O visions blest! God! thus alone my lonely thoughts can soar; PRAYER BY CHARLES FRANCIS RICHARDSON If, when I kneel to pray, With eager lips I say: "Lord give me all the things that I desire; Health, wealth, fame, friends, brave heart, religious fire, The power to sway my fellow men at will, And strength for might works to banish ill"; In such a prayer as this Or if I only dare To raise this fainting prayer: "Thou seest, Lord, that I am poor and weak, The blessings shall not come. But if I lowly fall, And thus in faith I call: "Through Christ, O Lord, I pray Thee give to me NEARER TO THEE BY SARAH FULLER FLOWER Nearer, my God, to Thee Nearer to Thee! E'en tho it be a cross That raiseth me; Still all my song shall be, Nearer, my God, to Thee, Nearer to Thee! Tho like the wanderer, The sun gone down, Darkness be over me, My rest a stone; Yet in my dreams I'd be Nearer, my God, to Thee, There let the way appear All that Thou send'st to me In mercy given; Angels to beckon me Nearer, my God, to Thee, Nearer to Thee! Then, with my waking thoughts Bright with Thy praise, Out of my stormy griefs Bethel I'll raise; So by my woes to be Nearer, my God, to Thee, Or if on joyful wing Cleaving the sky, Sun, moon, and stars forgot, Upward I fly, Still all my song shall be, Nearer, my God, to Thee, Nearer to Thee! Lesson talk. The reading aloud of sacred poetry and hymns is of great value to the student of elocution. These selections usually require a spirit of reverence and devotion, and an elevated style in which feeling and imagination play a conspicuous part. The easy grace and rhythm of the lines should be maintained without falling into sing-song or uniformity. Poetry should not be read like prose, nor is rime, when it occurs, to be obscured, but rather slightly marked. The voice does not necessarily rise or fall at the end of each line, but is governed by a just sense of the meaning of the words. Poetry demands tone-color for its proper expression, a judicious painting of the thought with feeling, by which appeal is made to the heart rather than to the intellect of the hearer. In the reading of hymns to a congregation the minister should carefully avoid the common faults of jerkiness, intoning, lifelessness, and overemphasis. Hymns should be analyzed and practised aloud in advance of the church service, and their vocal interpretation regarded as an important part of public worship. THE CHRISTIAN PILGRIM'S HYMN BY WILLIAM WILLIAMS Guide me, O Thou great Jehovah, Open now the crystal fountain Lead me all my journey through: When I tread the verge of Jordan, Musing on my habitation, Musing on my heavenly home, Fills my soul with holy longing; Come, my Jesus, quickly come. Vanity is all I see; Lord, I long to be with Thee! LIGHT SHINING OUT OF DARKNESS BY WILLIAM COWPER God moves in a mysterious way He plants His footsteps in the sea, |