O THAT I had wings like a dove!
Then would I flee away, and be at rest.
As for me, I will call upon God,

And he will save me.

Evening, and morning, and at noon,
Will I pray and cry aloud;

And he will hear my voice.

LXXXV.

NEARER, my God, to thee,
Nearer to thee!

E'en though it be a cross
That raiseth me:

Still all my song would be,
Nearer, my God, to thee-
Nearer to thee!

Though like the wanderer,

The sun gone down,

Darkness be over me,

My rest a stone;

Yet in my dreams I'd be,

Nearer, my God, to thee—

Nearer to thee!

There let the way appear,
Steps unto heaven;

All that thou send'st to me,
In mercy given:

Angels to beckon me

Nearer, my God, to thee—

Nearer to thee!

Then with my waking thoughts,

Bright with thy praise, Out of my stony griefs,

Bethel I'll raise:

So by my woes to be
Nearer, my God, to thee-
Nearer to thee!

Or if on joyful wing
Cleaving the sky,

Sun, moon, and stars forgot,

Upwards I fly:

Still all my song shall be,
Nearer, my God, to thee-

Nearer to thee!

AROUSE thee, soul!

Be, what thou surely art, An emanation from the Deity

A flutter of that heart

Which fills all nature, sea, and earth, and sky: Arouse thee, soul!

Arouse thee, soul!

And let the body do

Some worthy deed for human happiness,
To join, when life is through,
Unto thy name, that angels both may bless:
Arouse thee, soul!

Arouse thee, soul!

Leave nothings of the earth;
And if the body be not strong to dare,
To blessed thoughts give birth,
High as yon heaven, pure as heaven's air:
Arouse thee, soul!

LIVING or dying, Lord, I would be thine! Oh, what is life?

A toil, a strife,

Were it not lighted by thy love divine.
I ask not wealth,

I crave not health—

Living or dying, Lord, I would be thine!

O what is death,

When the poor breath

In parting can the soul to thee resign;
While patient love

Her trust doth prove―
Living or dying, Lord, I would be thine!

Throughout my days,

Be constant praise

Uplift to thee from out this heart of mine: So shall I be

Brought nearer thee—

Living or dying, Lord, I would be thine!

FATHER of all! to thee we pray,
By night, in secret, insecure;
But the darkness is like day,

If the heart within be pure.

What they do thou dost permit-
We endure, and pardon it.

As glows through smoke the bursting light,
Bid faith thus strengthen, day by day;
And then, though dimmed each ancient rite,
O who thy light can take away?

LXXXIX.

O God, the Lord of place and time,
Who orderest all things prudently;
Brightening with beams the opening prime,
And glowing in the mid-day sky:

Quench thou the fires of hate and strife,
The wasting fever of the heart;
From perils guard our feeble life,
And to our souls thy peace impart.