A Boy's Prayer

God who created me

Nimble and light of limb,
In three elements free,

To run, to ride, to swim:
Not when the sense is dim,

But now from the heart of joy,

I would remember Him:

Take the thanks of a boy.

HENRY CHARLES BEECHING.

Chartless

I never saw a moor,

I never saw the sea;

Yet know I how the heather looks,

And what a wave must be.

I never spoke with God,
Nor visited in heaven;

Yet certain am I of the spot

As if the chart were given.

EMILY DICKINSON.

Peace

My soul, there is a country,

Afar beyond the stars,

Where stands a wingèd sentry,

All skilful in the wars.

There, above noise and danger,

Sweet Peace sits crowned with smiles,

And One born in a manger

Commands the beauteous files.

He is thy gracious friend,
And (O my soul, awake!)
Did in pure love descend,

To die here for thy sake.

If thou canst get but thither,
There grows the flower of peace,

The rose that cannot wither,
Thy fortress, and thy ease.
Leave then thy foolish ranges;
For none can thee secure,
But One who never changes,
Thy God, thy Life, thy Cure.

HENRY VAUGHAN.

Life Lessons

Life Lessons

Consider

Consider

The lilies of the field, whose bloom is brief

We are as they;

Like them we fade away,

As doth a leaf.

Consider

The sparrows of the air, of small account:

Our God doth view

Whether they fall or mount-
He guards us too.

Consider

The lilies, that do neither spin nor toil,
Yet are most fair—

What profits all this care,
And all this coil?

Consider

The birds, that have no barn nor harvest-weeks;
God gives them food-

Much more our Father seeks

To do us good.

CHRISTINA G. ROSSETTI.

The Elixir

Teach me, my God and King,
In all things Thee to see,
And what I do in anything,

To do it as for Thee.

Life Lessons

All may of Thee partake:
Nothing can be so mean

Which with this tincture (for Thy sake)
Will not grow bright and clean.

A servant with this clause

Makes drudgery divine:

Who sweeps a room as for Thy laws,
Makes that and th' action fine.

This is the famous stone

That turneth all to gold;

For that which God doth touch and own

Cannot for less be told.

GEORGE HERBERT.

One by One

One by one the sands are flowing,
One by one the moments fall;
Some are coming, some are going;
Do not strive to grasp them all.

H

Life Lessons

One by one thy duties wait thee-
Let thy whole strength go to each,
Let no future dreams elate thee,

Learn thou first what these can teach.

One by one (bright gifts from heaven)
Joys are sent thee here below;
Take them readily when given-
Ready, too, to let them go.

One by one thy griefs shall meet thee;
Do not fear an armèd band;
One will fade as others greet thee-
Shadows passing through the land.

Do not look at life's long sorrow;
See how small each moment's pain;
God will help thee for to-morrow,
So each day begin again.

Every hour that fleets so slowly
Has its task to do or bear;
Luminous the crown, and holy,
When each gem is set with care.

Do not linger with regretting,
Or for passing hours despond;
Nor, thy daily toil forgetting,
Look too eagerly beyond.