Page:Poems Baldwin.djvu/110

As changeless as at first, I would forget
Friendship's less faithful promise. Let me turn
Mine eyes to all the glories that are spread
So richly in the distance. Farther still!
Rest on the mountains, my sad gaze, and view
The grandeur of the hay that flows afar.
And farther still! my soul, look up, and see
How from the height of heaven the Lord looks down
And smiles on his creation: thou wilt then
Cease to muse sadly on life's fickle scene,
And, borne away on contemplation's wing,
Feel all thy powers renew'd.
 Oh, Heav'nly Pow'r who rules o'er nature's works
And spreads a glorious lustre o'er them all,
Before whose throne the countless angels fall,
And worlds on worlds adoring e'er depend.
Shall I, a fragile being, tread the earth,
Reap thy rich blessings, and call forth my song?
(Ah, thus while list'ning to the richer strains
That nature breathes, imagining the praise
Of worlds on high,—it sinks and dies away.)
Shall I speak, move, or raise mine eye to heaven
Without a pray'r to Thee? Make new my heart;
Detach my soul from care. Save me, O Lord,
From ev'ry snare of pride, of human trust;
And my freed spirit, blended with my Lord's,