Sad, solemn season ! meet for thought and prayer

Sad, solemn season! meet for thought and prayer,
And calm seclusion; yet not loved the less,
If, fasting with my Saviour, I may share
His feast of duty in the wilderness.
Lone — yet not lonely, if my Lord be nigh,
Sad — yet not joyless, if He deign to bless,
Fasting — yet feasting, if His grace supply
All that is wanting in earth's emptiness:
A guest of Jesus, — where, tho' mortal eye
Can neither table, bread, nor Host perceive;
Yet, for the soul which — Heaven taught — doth believe,
Faith with its finer senses can descry,
Dropt from the heavens, drawn from the waters still —
My meat and drink to do my Father's will!