How say ye to my soul,
Ah! like a timorous dove,
To yonder mountain flee,
And from thy fears remove!.
For, sure, the Lord's my trust,
My hope, my only stay;
And what, when he is near,
Shall fright my soul away!
Lo! do the wicked rise,
And for awhile prevail;
But-soon the righteous Lord
Shall make their purpose fail!
For from his holy throne
His watchful eyes behold The wayward sons of men, And all their sins unfold!
And, on them sore shall rain
A dreadful storm of woes-
The portion of their cup,
Who dare to be his foes!
But those, who love the Lord,
Shall ever dwell in peace,
And all that's GOOD and FAIR,
Around them shall encrease!
Cowper, thou moral christian bard!
Tho' oft thy poesy is hard ;
Yet, are thy strains of noble, manly cast,
And e'er, while virtue's cause endures, shall last
I love them much—they touch upon the heart,
And truth and wisdom's fairest words impart
Blest are the pure and undefil'd
In walk, before their God ;
Who seek to know his high commands,
And cheerful hear his word :-
Their homes shall ever peaceful be,
Nor enter there iniquity!
The vine to them shall never fail,
The olive all its fatness yield;
With rosy health each breeze be fraught,
And blessings spread the teeming field!
Hence-shall the righteous e'er rejoice,
And praise the Lord with happy voice!
Behold! on yonder beetling height, Where a majestic oak hath grown,Which firm withstood full many a storm, That raging strove to cast it down!
Just so, 'tis with the virtuous mind, When adverse fortune's tempest lours,
And to o'erthrow it vengeful tries,
But vainly round its fury pours!
I guard the breast from foes without, And guard it, too, from foes within; My nature's never known to change, And who obey me, life shall win.
I raise the soul from earth to heaven,
Well purified from low desires;
Thus loose the bonds to folly given,
And warm the breast with holy fires!.
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