Lord, in the gloom of my distress, When every earthly hope is fled, When joy within my heart lies dead, Nor Love may give me one caress— Then, Father, from the caves of Grief My chastened spirit seeks release; My soul pines for celestial peace Within Thy Temple of Belief! Oh, fail me not, thou Christian God, As human promises have failed! I have not fled when sore assailed, I have not flinched beneath the Rod; For, in each scathing stroke of Fate, Has come to me Thy sacred Hope, A faith that bids me, though I grope In darkness still, to trust—and wait. And this last hope I keep, and dare The torments of life's heartless feud; The tortures of the devil's brood, The stinging serpents of despair; @3Jehovah Thou must be!@1—to steal The soul of man to bear his cross. Else Earth and Time were less than dross, And "death" were Life's supreme appeal. |