Although Affliction Smites My Heart

Although affliction smites my heart,
And earthly pleasures flee,
There is one bliss that ne'er shall part,
My joy, Oh God, in Thee.

That joy is like the orb of day,
When clouds its track pursue;
The shades and darkness throng its way,
But sunlight struggles through.

Oh Thou, my everlasting light,
On whom my hopes rely;
With Thee the darkest path is bright,
And fears and sorrows die.

— Religious Maxims (1846).

No Separation

Oh, can I leave Thee! Can I go

Back  to the world that once was nigh?

And so debase me, as to know

The joys that only bloom to die?

Oh, can I quit celestial good,

The growth of life's immortal tree,

And feed, instead of Angel's food,

On earth's poor dust and vanity?

I sought Thee, that my soul might stay

In  endless unity of mind;

And dare not, cannot rend away

The golden links my heart that bind.

If others blindly choose to roam,

And find the path of tears and gloom;

Be MINE, in God's great heart, the home,

Where peace, and joy, and glory bloom.

— Christ in the Soul (1872) XXXVI.

Vanity of Earthly Expectations

The autumn leaves, descending fast,
Are rent and scattered by the blast;
But not more sure they press the earth
Than fall the hopes of human birth.

See earthly pleasures pass away,
See health and loveliness decay,
And friendship's pledge, so warmly spoken,
No sooner made, than coldly broken.

Oh, place no expectations here,
To find them crush'd, however dear;
If thou canst trust the morning dew,
Then hope to find earth's promise true.

But live and look for that far clime,
Beyond the spheres of earth and time,
Where hopes that bloom shall perish never,
But bright to-day, are bright forever.

— American Cottage Life (1850).