Page:Zinzendorff and Other Poems.pdf/165

Rh

sheds on man's first waking hours A lustre pure and fair, And as his mind unfolds its powers Her cheering smile is there: But when his feet life's pathway tread And his torn bosom bleeds, And darkening ills around him spread Her taper's ray recedes.

A brighter torch doth Pleasure boast To lure his youthful way, A meteor on a rocky coast That dazzles to betray. But woe if his confiding heart Be with her fetters bound, The syren hath a poison'd dart And loves a secret wound.

God hath a light. It beams sublime On every seeking eye, When withering 'neath the blasts of time Both hope and pleasure die: That light we'll seek. Its ray hath power To pierce the shrouded tomb, And guide where tempests never lower And sorrow dares not come.