Poems (Baldwyn)/Comfort in Religious Hope

by Augusta Baldwyn

COMFORT IN RELIGIOUS HOPE.

How sweet the peace the spirit feels
 When things of time decay;
And grace each disappointment heals,
 While darkness ushers day!

And, oh, how sweet beyond compare
 The blest assurance given,—
The heart that has its treasure there,
 Shall find its rest in heaven.

Rise, rise my soul! all joyful rise
 In contemplation sweet
Of that abode beyond the skies
 Where parted friends shall meet.

There glorious reigns fair Zion's king,
 Before him darkness flies;
While saints their heavenly chorus sing,
 And angels mount the skies.

His truths eternal feed the mind,—
 His glorious purposes;
The sorrowful calm pastures find,—
 He reigns in heaven to bless.

Now darkly on the ocean cast,
 No wind or storm shall move;
Soon will the dreary void be past,
 And thou shalt rest in love.

The dreary void! not such to me
 Life's lone and weary waste:
Thy power, oh God, is on the sea;
 We here thy mercy taste.

Yes! every blast that rends the sky
 Is guided by thy hand;
Tis sweet to know that thou art nigh
 To bring us safe to land.

Then stormy tempest sweetly sounds,—
 It hastes our voyage home:
Soon shall we reach our earthly bounds,
 And to the fair haven come.