Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, HYMN: 13. ST. PHILIP AND ST. JAMES, by CHRISTOPHER SMART


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

HYMN: 13. ST. PHILIP AND ST. JAMES, by                 Poet Analysis     Poet's Biography
First Line: Now the winds are all composure
Last Line: His inestimable death.
Subject(s): Bible; God; Jesus Christ; Religion; Saints; Theology


Now the winds are all composure,
But the breath upon the bloom,
Blowing sweet o'er each inclosure
Grateful off'rings of perfume.

Tansy, calaminth and daisies
On the river's margin thrive;
And accompany the mazes
Of the stream that leaps alive.

Muse, accordant to the season,
Give the numbers life and air;
When the sounds and objects reason
In behalf of praise and pray'r.

All the scenes of nature quicken,
By the genial spirit fanned;
And the painted beauties thicken
Coloured by the master's hand.

Earth her vigour repossessing
As the blasts are held in ward;
Blessing heaped and pressed on blessing
Yield the measure of the Lord.

Beeches, without order seemly,
Shade the flow'rs of annual birth,
And the lily smiles supremely,
Mentioned by the Lord on earth.

Cowslips seize upon the fallow,
And the cardamine in white,
Where the corn-flow'rs join the mallow,
Joy and health and thrift unite.

Study sits beneath her arbour,
By the basin's glossy side;
While the boat from out its harbour
Exercise and pleasure guide.

Pray'r and praise be mine employment,
Without grudging or regret;
Lasting life and long enjoyment
Are not here, and are not yet.

Hark! aloud the blackbird whistles,
With surrounding fragrance blessed,
And the goldfinch in the thistles
Makes provision for her nest.

Ev'n the hornet hives his honey,
Bluecap builds his stately dome,
And the rocks supply the coney
With a fortress and an home.

But the servants of their Saviour,
Which with gospel-peace are shod,
Have no bed but what the paviour
Makes them in the porch of God.

O thou house that hold'st the charter
Of salvation from on high,
Fraught with prophet, saint, and martyr,
Born to weep, to starve and die!

Great today thy song and rapture
In the choir of Christ and Wren,
When two prizes were the capture
Of the hand that fished for men.

To the man of quick compliance
Jesus called, and Philip came;
And began to make alliance
For his master's cause and name.

James, of title most illustrious,
Brother of the Lord allowed;
In the vineyard how industrious,
Nor by years nor hardship bowed!

Each accepted in his trial,
One the Cheerful, one the Just;
Both of love and self-denial,
Both of everlasting trust.
Living they dispensed salvation,
Heav'n-endowed with grace and pow'r;
And they died in imitation
Of their Saviour's final hour:

Who, for cruel traitors pleading,
Triumphed, in his parting breath,
O'er all miracles preceding
His inestimable death.





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