"I LOVE the Lord" is still the strain This heart delights to sing; But I reply,--"Your thoughts are vain, "Perhaps 'tis no such thing." Before the power of Love Divine Creation fades away; Till only God is seen to shine In all that we survey. In gulfs of awful night we find The God of our desires; 'Tis there He stamps the yielding mind, And doubles all its fires. Flames of encircling love invest, And pierce it sweetly through; 'Tis filled with sacred joy, yet pressed With sacred sorrow too. Ah Love! my heart is in the right-- Amidst a thousand woes, To Thee its ever new delight And all its peace it owes. Fresh causes of distress occur Where'er I look or move; The comforts I to all prefer Are solitude and love. Nor exile I, nor prison fear; Love makes my courage great; I find a Saviour everywhere, His grace in every state. Nor castle walls, nor dungeons deep, Exclude His quickening beams; There I can sit, and sing, and weep, And dwell on heavenly themes. There sorrow, for His sake, is found A joy beyond compare; There no presumptuous thoughts abound, No pride can enter there. A Saviour doubles all my joys, And sweetens all my pains, His strength in my defence employs, Consoles me and sustains. I fear no ill, resent no wrong, Nor feel a passion move, When malice whets her slanderous tongue; Such patience is in love. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...JEWISH LULLABY by LOUIS UNTERMEYER THE KINGS by LOUISE IMOGEN GUINEY THE LATTER DAY by THOMAS HASTINGS ON THE DEATH OF DR. ROBERT LEVET, A PRACTISER IN PHYSIC by SAMUEL JOHNSON (1709-1784) THE CARELESS GALLANT by THOMAS JORDAN THE GUERDON by THOMAS BAILEY ALDRICH THE SISTER'S TRAGEDY by THOMAS BAILEY ALDRICH |