Still every throbbing heart, And Thine own peace impart; Bless us to-night.

605

1

GEORGE RAWSON.

607

C.M. "Thou shalt lie down, and none shall make thee afraid."-Job xi. 19.

THE

shadows of the evening hours Fall from the dark'ning sky; Upon the fragrance of the flowers

The dews of evening lie.

2 Before Thy throne, O Lord of Heaven, We kneel at close of day;

Look on Thy children from on high,
And hear us while we pray.

8 The sorrows of Thy servants, Lord,
Oh, do not Thou despise;
But let the incense of our prayer
Before Thy mercy rise.

4 The brightness of the coming light
Upon the darkness rolls;

With hopes of future glory chase
The shadows on our souls.

5 Let peace, O Lord, Thy peace, O God, Upon our souls descend;

From midnight fears and perils, Thou Our trembling hearts defend.

6 Give us a respite from our toil,

Calm and subdue our woes;

Through the long day we suffer, Lord, Oh, give us now repose!

ADELAIDE ANNE PROCTER.
77.77.77.

"And the Sabbath drew on."-
Luke xxiii. 54.

606

1

SAFELY through another week

God has brought us on our way;

Let us now a blessing seek

On the approaching Sabbath-day:
Day of all the week the best,
Emblem of eternal rest.

2 Mercies, multiplied each hour,
Gracious Lord, our praise demand;
Guarded by Thy mighty power,
Nourished by Thy bounteous hand,
Now from worldly cares set free,
May we rest this night with Thee.
3 When the morn shall bid us rise,
May we feel Thy presence near;
May Thy glory meet our eyes,
When we in Thy house appear;
And may all our Sabbaths prove
Foretastes of the joys above.

JOHN NEWTON.

SPRING.

77.77.

"Lo, the winter is past!"—
Solomon's Song ii. 11.

1 WINTER's days of gloom are past;

Happier hours are come at last; Flowers and blossoms quickly spring; Birds amid the branches sing.

2 Oh how great the love and power
Which protecteth bird and flower!
At the time appointed, still
Bidding each its station fill.

3 Birds, they do not understand,-
We will own the guiding hand
Which hath led our youthful way
Safe to this rejoicing day.

4 As with melody and song
Joyously we pass along,

Let our hearts with rapture swell,
All our Father's love to tell.

5 There are brighter paths than these,
Ways of sacred pleasantness-
Pastures ever green and fair:
Are our spirits travelling there?

6 Thorns may sometimes strew the road, Yet it leadeth on to God;

Let us go, a pilgrim band,

To that bright and happy land.

"Thou blessest the springing thereof."-Ps. lxv. 10.

1 THE spring-tide hour

2

3

4

5

6

Brings leaf and flower,
With songs of life and love;
And many a lay
Wears out the day
In many a leafy grove.
Bird, flower, and tree
Seem to agree

Their choicest gifts to bring;
But this poor heart
Bears not its part,
In it there is no spring.

Dews fall apace,-
The dews of grace,-
Upon this soul of sin;
And love divine
Delights to shine
Upon the waste within.
Yet year by year
Fruits, flowers appear,

And birds their praises sing;
But this poor heart
Bears not its part,

Its winter has no spring.

Lord, let Thy love,

Fresh from above,

Soft as the south wind blow,

Call forth its bloom,

Wake its perfume,

And bid its spices flow.

And when Thy voice
Makes earth rejoice,

And the hills laugh and sing:
Lord, teach this heart
To bear its part,

And join the praise of spring.

611

1

SUMMER.

65.65.

APPLEDORE.

"There is nothing hid from the
heat thereof."-Ps. xix. 6.
SUMMER suns are glowing

Over land and sea,
Happy light is flowing
Bountiful and free.

2 Every thing rejoices
In the mellow rays,
All earth's thousand voices
Swell the psalm of praise.
3 God's free mercy streameth
Over all the world,
And His banner gleameth
Everywhere unfurled.

4 Broad and deep and glorious
As the heaven above,
Shines in might victorious
His eternal love.

5 Lord, upon our blindness
Thy pure radiance pour;
For Thy loving-kindness
Make us love Thee more.

6 And when clouds are drifting
Dark across our sky,
Then the veil uplifting,
Father, be Thou nigh.
7 We will never doubt Thee,

Though Thou veil Thy light;
Life is dark without Thee;

Death with Thee is bright.
8 Light of Light! shine o'er us
On our pilgrim way;
Go Thou still before us
To the endless day.

WILLIAM WALSHAM HOW.

AUTUMN.

76.76.

612 and fruitful seasons." -Acts xiv.17. 1 THE year is swiftly waning;

"He gave us rain from heaven,

The summer days are past;
And life, brief life, is speeding;
The end is nearing fast.

2 The ever-changing seasons
In silence com- and go;
But Thou, Eternal Father,

No time or change canst know. 3 Oh! pour Thy grace upon us, That we may worthier be, Each year that passes o'er us,

To dwell in heaven with Thee.
4 Behold the bending orchards
With bounteous fruit are crowned;
Lord, in our hearts more richly
Let heavenly fruit abound.
5 Oh! by each mercy sent us,
And by each grief and pain,
By blessings like the sunshine,
And sorrows like the rain.

6 Our barren hearts make fruitful
With every goodly grace,
That we Thy name may hallow,
And see at last Thy face.

Since they stacked the balmy hay, Since they reaped the golden ear. 3 Sunny days are past and gone: So the years go, speeding fast, Onward ever, each new one Swifter speeding than the last. 4 Life is waning; life is brief;

Death, like winter, standeth nigh: Each one, like the falling leaf,

Soon shall fade, and fall, and die. 5 But the sleeping earth shall wake, And the flowers shall burst in bloom, And all Nature rising break

Glorious from its wintry tomb. 6 So, Lord, after slumber blest Comes a bright awaening, And our flesh in hope shall rest Of a never-fading Spring.

614

1

WILLIAM WALSHAM HOW.

HARVEST.

IRREGULAR.

"Thou blessest the springing
thereof."-Ps. lxv. 10.

WE plough the fertile meadows,

We sow the furrowed land; But all the growth and increase Are in God's mighty hand. He gives the showers and sunshine To swell the quick'ning grain, The springing corn He blesses, He clothes the golden plain. Every bounteous blessing

His faithful love bestows, Then magnify His glorious Name, From whom all goodness flows.

2 By Him all things were fashioned Around us and afar,

He formed the earth and ocean,
He kindled every star.
His love ordained the seasons,

By Him are all things fed;
He for the sparrow careth,
He gives our daily bread.
Every bounteous blessing

His faithful love bestows,
Then magnify His glorious Name,
From whom all goodness flows.
3 All praise to Th e, Great Father,!:
Thou Giver of all good;

Upon whose care dependeth
Our life, and health, and food:
We bring our glad thanksgiving,
Our gifts of love and praise;

615 "They joy before Thee according to the joy in harvest."-Isa. ix. 3. COME, ye thankful people, come,

1

Raise the song of Harvest-Home!
All is safely gathered in,
Ere the winter storms begin;
God, our Maker, doth provide
For our wants to be supplied:-
Come to God's own temple, come,
Raise the song of Harvest-Home!
2 All this world is God's own field,
Fruit unto His praise to yield;
Wheat and tares together sown,
Unto joy or sorrow grown;
First the blade, and then the far,
Then the full corn shall appear:
Lord of Harvest, grant that we
Wholesome grain and pure may be.
3 For the Lord our God shall come,
And shall take His Harvest-Home;
From His field shall in that day
All offences purge away;
Give His angels charge at last
In the fire the tares to cast;
But the fruitful ears to store
In His garner evermore.

4 Even so, Lord, quickly come,
To Thy final Harvest-Home!
Gather Thou Thy people in,
Free from sorrow, free from sin;
There for ever purified,
In Thy presence to abide;

Come, with all Thine angels, come,
Raise the glorious Harvest-Home!

3 Thou dost prepare our corn, and year by year, [pear Before Thine altar, Lord, will we apWith Harvest-tide thanksgiving.

4 Thine was the former and the latter rain, [again Enriching earth, and calling forth The Harvest-tide thanksgiving. Thou openest wide once more Thy bounteous hand, [lani And far and wide ascends from all the Glad Harvest-tide thanksgiving.

6 Thou fillest all that live with plenteousness,

[bless, They, in return, Thy sacred name all In Harvest-tide thanksgiving.

7 Thy clouds drop fatness on the teeming earth, [mirth, Accept these festal songs of reverent This Harvest-tide thanksgiving.

8 The year is crowned with goodness Lord, by Thee,

[Thee Then meet it is that we should offer The Harvest-tide thanksgiving.

9 On every side both hills and dales rejoice, [ful voice On every side sounds forth the grateOf Harvest-tide thanksgiving.

10 For all Thy blessings, Lord, our thanks

we sing, [bring We all, who sow and reap, together Our Harvest-tide thanksgiving.

617

S. CHILDS CLARKE.

65. (12 lines.)

"The joy in harvest."-Isa. ix. 3.

1 EARTH below is teeming,
Heaven is bright above;
Every brow is beaming
In the light of love;
Every eye rejoices,

Every thought is praise;
Happy hearts and voices
Gladden nights and days.
O Almighty Giver!
Bountiful and free,
As the joy in harvest,
Joy we before Thee.
2 Every youth and maiden,
On the harvest plain,
Round the waggons laden
With their golden grain,
Swell the happy chorus,
On the evening air,

Unto Him who o'er us Bends with constant care. O Almighty Giver, &c. 3 For the sun and showers, For the rain and dew, For the nurturing hours Spring and summer knew; For the golden autumn, And its precious stores, For the love that brought them Teeming to our doors,

O Almighty Giver, &c.

4 Earth's broad harvest whitens In a brighter sun;

618

1

Thon the orb that lightens
All we tread upon;

Send out labourers, Father!
Where fields ripening wave;

All the nations gather,
Gather in and save.

SW

O Almighty Giver!
Bountiful and free,
Then as joy in harvest
We shall joy in Thee.
J. S. B. MONSELL.

NEW AND OLD YEAR.

77.77.

2 Can a child presume to choose
Where or how to live?
Can a Father's love refuse
All the best to give?
More Thou givest every day
Than the best can claim;
Nor withholdest aught that may
Glorify Thy name."

66

3 If in mercy Thou wilt spare
Joys we yet partake;
If in life, serene and fair,
Brighter rays may break;

Thee our hearts, while glad they sing,
Shall in all proclaim;

And, whate'er the year may bring,
"Glorify Thy name.'

4 If Thou callest to the cross,
And its shadow come,
Turning all our gain to loss,
3hrouding heart and home:
May we think how Thy dear S›n.
To His glory came,

In His footsteps follow on;
"Glorify Thy name.'

LAWRENCE TUTTIETT. 55512.55512.

620"Wherefore, gird up the loins of

die."-Eccles. iii. 2

WIFTLY pass the seasons round;
Constant change on earth is found;
We are fading day by day,
And must shortly pass away.

2 Time once lost returns no more;
Time with us will soon be o'er;
O may we be early wise,
To improve it as it flies.

3 Help us, Lord, to seek Thy face,
Daily may we grow in grace,
Till we rise to dwell above,
In the kingdom of Thy love
75.75.75.75.

"I will glorify Thy name."

619 Ps. lxxxvi. 12.
1 FATHER, here we dedicate

This new year to Thee,
In whatever worldly state
Thou wilt have us be.

Not from sorrow, pain, or care,
Freedom dare we claim;

This alone shall be our prayer,

66

'Glorify Thy name.'

your mind."-1 Peter i. 13.

COME, let us anew Our journey purRoll round with the year, [sue, And never stand still, till the Master