Now all is done, that love and care

Now all is done, that love and care
And skilful kindness could suggest,
And He who hears our anxious prayer
Will answer as His love deems best:
O that both hopes and fears were still,
Waiting on His mysterious will!

And yet both hopes and fears will crowd
Around that bright and precious child,
And both will speak their thoughts aloud,
'Till this distracted heart grows wild:
O might they all give place to one
Heart-filling prayer, " God's will be done!"

Sometimes a dream of what may be
Comes like soft sunshine o'er this heart,
I hear his prattle at my knee,
Feel his warm cheek near mine, and start
To find it — ah! so cold and pale,
That Hope (and well-nigh Faith) doth fail.

And then again the dream returns —
Childhood and youth are safely o'er,
His eye with manhood's ardour burns,
Fears hover round his path no more:
Hopes, with their buds and blossoms, all
Burst where his bounding footsteps fall.

He seems to speak — with anxious ear
My very heart waits breathless by,
His lips are parted — and I hear —
My precious babe — thy restless cry!
And Hope, affrighted, flees away,
As if it had no heart to stay.

Come then, my God, and take the place
Of these distracting hopes and fears,
Stablish this trembling heart with grace,
Dry with Thine hand these falling tears,
And teach me to confide to Thee,
The treasure Thou could'st trust with me.

Happy, if rescued from the strait
Of being call'd on to decide,
Here with submissive soul I wait
By Thy decision to abide;
Life — with its blessings, and its pain, —
Or death — with its " To die is gain."