Page:The Christian Year 1887.djvu/38



Thou wilt—for Thou art Israel's God, And Thine unwearied arm Is ready yet with Moses' rod, The hidden rill to charm Out of the dry unfathomed deep Of sands, that lie in lifeless sleep, Save when the scorching whirlwinds heap Their waves in rude alarm.

These moments of wild wrath are Thine - Thine, too, the drearier hour When o'er th' horizon's silent line Fond hopeless fancies cower, And on the traveller's listless way Rises and sets th' unchanging day, No cloud in heaven to slake its ray, On earth no sheltering bower.

Thou wilt be there, and not forsake, To turn the bitter pool Into a bright and breezy lake, This throbbing brow to cool: Till loft awhile with Thee alone The wilful heart be fain to own That He, by whom our bright hours shone, Our darkness best may rule.

The scent of water far away Upon the breeze is flung; The desert pelican to-day Securely leaves her young, Reproving thankless man, who fears To journey on a few lone years, Where on the sand Thy step appears, Thy crown in sight is hung.

Thou, who did sit on Jacob's well The weary hour of noon, The languid pulses Thou canst tell, The nerveless spirit tune. Thou from Whose cross in anguish burst The cry that owned Thy dying thirst, To Thee we turn, our Last and First, Our Sun and soothing Moon.