Heart’s-Ease

The day will not give place to night,—
The darkness pierces like the light;
My care prolongs the noontide glare,
And makes a desert everywhere.
O! what will ease a burning brain,
And the weariness that is worse than pain?

* * * * *

Think of twilight and the dew,—
The stars serenely shining through
The tranquil depths of peaceful blue;
Muse on the moon’s majestic grace;
How worshipful her radiant face
In midnight’s solemn loneliness!
Nature is silent unto God—
His comforts are exceeding broad.

* * * * *

Receive the word his works declare:
“The peace of God is everywhere.”
Too weak for praise, too faint for prayer,
The benediction of the air
Be thine whose lot it is to share
Life’s ceaseless, slow-corroding care.
Be still, and breathe the balm divine,
Arcturus’ joy, Orion’s wine;
So shalt thou know the blessed law
Whence stars their strength and beauty draw,
Inheriting their influence
In quietness and confidence,
And ever, cheerfully as they,
Press onward in thy heavenward way.