I have omitted three
stanzas.
I cannot give much from William Cowper. His poems--graceful always, and
often devout even when playful--have few amongst them that are expressly
religious, while the best of his hymns are known to every reader of such.
Born in 1731, he was greatly influenced by the narrow theology that
prevailed in his circle; and most of his hymns are marred by the
exclusiveness which belonged to the system and not to the man. There is
little of it in the following:--
Far from the world, O Lord, I flee,
From strife and tumult far;
From scenes where Satan wages still
His most successful war.
The calm retreat, the silent shade,
With prayer and praise agree,
And seem by thy sweet bounty made
For those who follow thee.
There if thy spirit touch the soul,
And grace her mean abode,
Oh with what peace, and joy, and love,
She communes with her God!
There, like the nightingale, she pours
Her solitary lays,
Nor asks a witness of her song,
Nor thirsts for human praise.
Author and guardian of my life,
Sweet source of light divine,
And--all harmonious names in one--
My Saviour, thou art mine!
What thanks I owe thee, and what love--
A boundless, endless store--
Shall echo through the realms above
When time shall be no more.
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