* * * * *
HOPE OF THE HUMAN HEART.
FROM "ANIMA MUNDI."
God is good.
And flight is destined for the callow wing,
And the high appetite implies the food,
And souls most reach the level whence they spring;
O Life of very life! set free our powers,
Hasten the travail of the yearning hours.
Thou, to whom old Philosophy bent low,
To the wise few mysteriously revealed;
Thou, whom each humble Christian worships now,
In the poor hamlet and the open field:
Once an idea, now Comforter and Friend,
Hope of the human heart, descend, descend!
RICHARD MONCKTON MILNES. (LORD HOUGHTON.)
II.
PRAYER AND ASPIRATION.
* * * * *
WHAT IS PRAYER?
Prayer is the soul's sincere desire,
Uttered or unexpressed--
The motion of a hidden fire
That trembles in the breast.
Prayer is the burthen of a sigh,
The falling of a tear--
The upward glancing of an eye,
When none but God is near.
Prayer is the simplest form of speech
That infant lips can try--
Prayer the sublimest strains that reach
The majesty on high.
Prayer is the contrite sinner's voice
Returning from his ways,
While angels in their songs rejoice,
And cry, "Behold he prays!"
Prayer is the Christian's vital breath--
The Christian's native air--
His watchword at the gates of death--
He enters heaven with prayer.
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