Sweeter, with every grace endued,
The glory of thy gratitude,

Respired unto the Lord.

Strong is the horse upon his speed;
Strong in pursuit the rapid glede,

Which makes at once his game;
Strong the tall ostrich on the ground;
Strong through the turbulent profound
Shoots Xiphias to his aim.

Strong is the lion like a coal
His eyeball, like a bastion's mole

His chest against the foes:

Strong the gier-eagle on his sail,

Strong 'gainst the tide the enormous whale,

Emerges as he goes.

But stronger still in earth and air,

And in the sea the man of

prayer,

And far beneath the tide :

And in the seat to faith assigned,

Where ask is have, where seek is find,

Where knock is open wide.

87

HOLINESS.

Beauteous the fleet before the gale;
Beauteous the multitudes in mail,

Ranked arms and crested heads ;'
Beauteous the garden's umbrage mild,
Walk, water, mediated wild,

And all the bloomy beds.

Beauteous the moon full on the lawn;

And beauteous when the veil's withdrawn,
The virgin to her spouse:

Beauteous the temple, decked and filled,

When to the heaven of heavens they build
Their heart-directed vows.

Beauteous, yea, beauteous more than these,
The shepherd-king upon his knees,

For his momentous trust;

With wish of infinite conceit,

For man, beast, mute, the small and great,
And prostrate dust to dust.

Precious the bounteous widow's mite;

And precious, for extreme delight,

The largess from the churl:

Precious the ruby's blushing blaze,

And alba's blest imperial rays,

And pure cerulean pearl.

Precious the penitential tear;

And precious is the sigh sincere,
Acceptable to God:

And precious are the winning flowers,
In gladsome Israel's feast of bowers,
Bound on the hallowed sod.

More precious that diviner part
Of David, e'en the Lord's own heart,
Great, beautiful, and new:

In all things where it was intent,
In all extremes, in each event,

Proof-answering true to true.

Glorious the sun in mid career;
Glorious the assembled fires appear;

Glorious the comet's train:

Glorious the trumpet and alarm ;

Glorious the Almighty's stretched-out arm;
Glorious the enraptured main :

HOLINESS.

Glorious the northern lights astream;

Glorious the song, when God's the theme;
Glorious the thunder's roar :

Glorious hosannah from the den;

Glorious the catholic Amen;

Glorious the martyr's gore:

Glorious-more glorious is the crown
Of Him that brought salvation down,
By meekness called Thy Son;
Thou that stupendous truth believed,
And now the matchless deed's achieved,
Determined, dared, and done.

89

CHRISTOPHER SMART.

M

MAXIMUS.

ANY, if God should make them kings,

Might not disgrace the throne He gave;

How few who could as well fulfil

The holier office of a slave.

I hold him great who, for love's sake,

Can give, with generous, earnest will,—
Yet he who takes for Love's sweet sake,
I think I hold more generous still.

I prize the instinct that can turn

From vain pretence with proud disdain ;
Yet more I prize a simple heart
Paying credulity with pain.

I bow before the noble mind

That freely some great wrong forgives;