A book of English poetry; ed. by T. Shorter

316 l'<ll!JlS 07 RELIGION.

~lUlebnm of ~ombJ.

Joy ia a weak and giddy thing, that laugla

It~M~lt to wearineaa or sleep, and wakes

To the same barren laughter ; 'tie a child

Perpetually, and all ita paet and future

Lie in the compaae of an infant's dAy.

Cnlah'd from our aorrow 1\ll that's great in man

Haa ever sprung. In the bold Pagan world

Men deified the beautiful, the glad,

The strong, the boutful, and it came to nought;

We have raised Pain and Sorrow into heaven,

And in our temples, on our altars, Grief

Stands symbol of our faith, and it ahalllaet

..Aa long aa me.n ill mortal and unhappy.

The gay at heart may wander to the &kies,

.And ha.rp~~ may there be found them, and the branch

Of palm be put into their handa : on earth

We lmow them not ; no votariet of our faith,

'1'ill he hu dropp'd biB tean into the stream,

Tastes of ita sweetness.

Oa. Thou! who dry'st the mourner's tear,

How dark thia world would be,

Ir, when deceived and wounded here,

We could not fiy to Thee I

The friends who in our aWIBhine live,

When winter comes are ilown;

And be who hu but tean to give,

Must weep tboae tears alone.

But Thou wilt heal tbat broken heart,

Which, like the plants that throw

Their fngrance from the wounded part,

B,n,athea sweetness out of woe I

When joy no longer aoothee or cheers,

.ADd e'en the hope tb"t threw

A moment's sparkle o'er our teara,

Ia d.imm'd and vani.ah'd too!-