Page:The Christian Year 1887.djvu/196

 Absolved, in thankful sacrifice to part For ever with thy sullen heart, Nor on remorseful thoughts to brood, and stain This glory of the Cross, forgiven and cheereth in vain.


 * When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee. Isaiah xliii. 2.

The shower of moonlight falls as still and clear Upon this desert main As where sweet flowers some pastoral garden cheer With fragrance after rain: The wild winds rustle in piping shrouds, As in the quivering trees: Like summer fields, beneath the shadowy clouds The yielding waters darken in the breeze.

Thou too art here with thy soft inland tones, Mother of our new birth; The lonely ocean learns thy orisons, And loves thy sacred mirth: When storms are high, or when the fires of war Come lightening round our course, Thou breath'st a note like music from afar, Tempering rude hearts with calm angelic force.

Far, far away, the homesick seaman's hoard, Thy fragrant tokens live, Like flower-leaves in a previous volume stored, To solace and relieve Some heart too weary of the restless world; Or like thy Sabbath Cross, That o'er this brightening billow streams unfurled, Whatever gale the labouring vessel toss.

Oh, kindly soothing in high Victory's hour, Or when a comrade dies, In whose sweet presence Sorrow dares not lower, Nor Expectation rise Too high for earth; what mother's heart could spare To the cold cheerless deep Her flower and hope? but Thou art with him there, Pledge of the untired arm and eye that cannot sleep: