SUNDAY EVENING. 123 Sunday Evening. FAREWELL, Sweet day of rest! Gladly at morn I hail'd thy light:And now I see thee in the fading west, Taking thy flight. Bright fleeting season stay! Nor to the past yet hurry on; Still, still I would detain thee, on thy way Dear was the early sound That floated from thy joyous bells; Inviting to the consecrated ground Where Jesus dwells. Deserted now thy fanes: The herald's voice-the song-the prayer Are silent; but the fragrance still remains That fill'd me there. Calm for the weary breast! I hail thee, foretaste of a life Where, in an endless Sabbath, we shall rest From mortal strife, Saviour thy gift I sing! Thine is the day :-thine let it be; And may each hallow'd season nearer bring My soul to Thee! ABIDE IN ME, AND I IN YOU. 125 Abide in Me, and I in Yon. THAT mystic word of thine, O sovereign Lord! Abide in me, I pray, and I in thee. From this good hour, O leave me never more! Then shall the discord cease, the wound be heal'd, The life-long bleeding of the soul be o'er. Abide in me-o'ershadow by thy love, Quench ere it rise each selfish, low desire, As some rare perfume in a vase of clay So, when thou dwellest in a mortal soul, All heaven's own sweetness seems around it thrown. The soul alone, like a neglected harp, Grows out of tune, and needs that hand divine; Dwell thou within it, tune and touch the chords, Till every note and string shall answer thine. Abide in me; there have been moments pure When I have seen thy face, and felt thy power; Then evil lost its grasp, and passion, hush'd, Own'd the divine enchantment of the hour. These were but seasons beautiful and rare ; I pray thee now fulfill my earnest prayer, Come and abide in me and I in thee. |