The First Day of the New Life

"Ah, how long shall I delight
In the memory of that day,"
When the shades of mental night
Sudden passed away!

Long around my darkened view
Had those lingering shadows twined;
Till the Gospel, breaking through,
Chased them from my mind.

There  was light in every thing,
Every thing was bathed in bliss;
Trees did wave, and birds did sing,
Full of happiness.

Beauty in the woods shone forth,
Beauty did the flowers display;
And my glorious Maker's worth
Beamed with matchless ray.

"Ah, how long shall I delight
In  the memory of that day,"
When  the shades of mental night
Sudden passed away.

— Religious Maxims (1846).

The Mystery of the New Birth

"Marvel not, that I said unto thee, ye must be born again. The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the  sound thereof, but canst not tell, whence it cometh and whither it goeth. So is every one, that is born of the Spirit."  John iii. 7, 8.

I hear the mountain wind, but see it not;
Its mournful sigh startles my mind's repose;
I listen; but it passes quick as thought;
I know not whence it comes, nor where it goes.
'Tis thus with those, who of the Spirit are born,
A change comes o'er them; how they cannot say.
They wake, as from the darkness wakes the morn,
And mental night is changed to mental day.
'Tis God's mysterious work. 'Tis He can find,
Deep searching, and 'tis He can touch
The deep and hidden spring that rules the mind,
And change its tendencies, and make it such,
Redeemed, restored, as it was not before.
We know that 'tis God's work; but we can know no more.

— American Cottage Life (1850) XXXVII.

The New Birth

BE BORN AGAIN,
With birth-right from above;
Thy selfish nature slain;
Be born of LOVE.

'Tis life from heaven,
Descending in thy soul;—
'Tis Love's new nature given,
Which makes thee whole.

Oh, do not rest,
Till that bright hour shall come,
Which smites thy selfishness
With final doom.

And, in its place,
Brings forth the life, new-born
Of truth, and love, and peace,
Bright as the morn.

— Christ in the Soul (1872) XXX.