I know not yet the promis'd bliss,
Know not if I shall win or miss;

So doubting, rather let me die,
Than close with aught beside, to last eternally.

What is the heaven we idly dream?
The self-deceiver's dreary theme,
A cloudless sun that softly shines,
Bright maidens and unfailing vines,
The warrior's pride, the hunter's mirth,
Poor fragments all of this low earth:

Such as in sleep would hardly soothe

A soul that once had tasted of immortal Truth.

What is the Heaven our GOD bestows?

No Prophet yet, no Angel knows;
Was never yet created eye

Could see across Eternity;

Not seraph's wing for ever soaring
Can pass the flight of souls adoring,

That nearer still and nearer grow

To th' unapproached LORD, once made for them so low.

Unseen, unfelt their earthly growth,

And self-accus'd of sin and sloth

They live and die: their names decay,
Their fragrance passes quite away;
Like violets in the freezing blast

No vernal steam around they cast,

But they shall flourish from the tomb,

The breath of God shall wake them into od❜rous bloom.

Then on th' incarnate SAVIOUR's breast,
The fount of sweetness, they shall rest,
Their spirits every hour imbu'd

More deeply with his precious blood.
But peace-still voice and closed eye
Suit best with hearts beyond the sky,
Hearts training in their low abode,

Daily to lose themselves in hope to find their Gov.

SEPTUAGESIMA SUNDAY.

The invisible things of Him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things which are made. Romans i. 20.

THERE is a book, who runs may read,

Which heavenly truth imparts,

And all the lore its scholars need,

Pure eyes and Christian hearts.

The works of God above, below,
Within us and around,
Are pages in that book, to shew
How God himself is found.

The glorious sky embracing all

Is like the Maker's love,

Wherewith encompass'd, great and small

In peace and order move.

The Moon above, the Church below,

A wondrous race they run,

But all their radiance, all their glow,
Each borrows of its Sun.

The Saviour lends the light and heat
That crowns his holy hill;

The saints, like stars, around his seat,
Perform their courses stille.

The saints above are stars in Heaven-
What are the saints on earth?

Like trees they stand whom God has given,
Our Eden's happy birth.

Faith is their fix'd unswerving root,

Hope their unfading flower,

Fair deeds of charity their fruit,

The glory of their bower.

The dew of heaven is like thy grace,
It steals in silence down;

But where it lights, the favour'd place

By richest fruits is known.

e Dan. xii. 3.

f Isaiah ix. 21.

g Psalm lxviii. 9.

One Name above all glorious names
With its ten thousand tongues
The everlasting sea proclaims,
Echoing angelic songs.

The raging Fire", the roaring Wind, Thy boundless power display : But in the gentler breeze we find Thy Spirit's viewless way.

Two worlds are ours: 'tis only Sin
Forbids us to descry

The mystic heaven and earth within,
Plain as the sea and sky.

Thou, who hast given me eyes to see And love this sight so fair,

Give me a heart to find out Thee,

And read Thee every where.

h Hebrews xii. 29.

i St. John iii. 8.