A CONTRAST.

WHEN I was "young and in my prime,"

I still remember well the time,

The lark was not more gay;

For I the merry bells could ring,

Play on my pipe and dance and sing,
To pass the time away.

But all those days are past and gone:
Old age and death fast hast'ning on,

To sweep me in my grave:

Now I must study, night and day,

And think, and meditate, and pray,

That I

my soul may save.

ON HEARING THE CLOCK.

AND now again I hear thee call!

Oh! may this warning teach my soul,

My precious time to prize.

I find my hours are fleeting fast:

Then let me not a moment waste;

But hasten to be wise.

Ah, what a feeble thing is man!

His life at most is but a span:

Precarious are our days.

Whilst bustling thro' a busy world,

Down to the grave we're quickly hurl'd,

And fall a thousand ways.

'Tis the inevitable fate

Of ev'ry mortal, soon or late,

Both righteous and unjust;

That high and low, and great and small, Must yield to death's imperious call,

And end in 'dust to dust.'

Author of good! on thee I lean.

Keep me from every thing unclean,

And make me watchful still,

To do my duty as I ought;

In ev'ry action, word, and thought,

Obedient to thy will.

And let me always be content

With what thy bounteous hand hath sent,

And what is still to come:

Guide me, that ev'ry step I tread

Thro' this dark wilderness, may lead

Towards my heav'nly home.

ON THE LOSS OF FRIENDS.

SINCE it is thus by Heav'n decreed,

May I, in steadfast hope, succeed,

Affliction's tide to stem,

With calm content; for now I see,

They never can return to me,

But I must follow them.

AGE AND INFIRMITY.

AGE and infirmity! unwelcome guests
To those who brood too much on worldly cares.
Not so with me. You my companions are.
Take either hand, and let us journey on

Together, till we reach our journey's end!
But not companions long.

And we shall part in peace.

A few days more

A few days more,

I give you both the slip, by a long leap

To a far distant shore-a world unknown

To man; a world whence no one gone before Ever leap'd back with the mysterious tale.

TO MY SOUL!

THAT day is drawing on apace,

When all these toils will cease;

Cheer up, my soul! a little space
Will bring thee to a resting place,
When I shall sleep in peace.

The silent grave shall shelter me,
Exempt from care and pain;

And thou and I must parted be;

But not to all eternity,

For we shall meet again.

Then let us still be on our guard,

Before these changes come:

For Heav'n will be our blest reward,

If we at last are found prepar'd

To meet our final doom.

THE SOUL'S DEPARTURE.

Now that I have breath'd my last,

And the storms of life are past,

Lay my body in the grave;

Huddl'd in death's dark cave,

up

There to moulder and decay,

Blending with its kindred clay.

Now, my soul! exulting rise,
Post thy journey thro' the skies,
Swifter than the arrow's flight,
Far obscur'd from human sight.

What a glorious change is this!
Worldly dross for endless bliss.
Joining in the heav'nly throng,

In the everlasting song,

'God the Father be ador'd

In hallelujahs, praise the Lord!