Page:Fugitive Poetry 1600-1878.djvu/83
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THE MISSIONARY.
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'Tis the Great Spirit, wide diffused
Through everything we see,
That with our spirits communeth
Of things mysterious—life and death,
Time and eternity!
Through everything we see,
That with our spirits communeth
Of things mysterious—life and death,
Time and eternity!
I see him in the blazing sun,
And in the thunder-cloud:
I hear him in the mighty roar
That rusheth through the forests hoar
When winds are raging loud.
And in the thunder-cloud:
I hear him in the mighty roar
That rusheth through the forests hoar
When winds are raging loud.
I feel him in the silent dews,
By grateful earth betrayed;
I feel him in the gentle showers,
The soft south wind, the breath of flowers,
The sunshine, and the shade.
By grateful earth betrayed;
I feel him in the gentle showers,
The soft south wind, the breath of flowers,
The sunshine, and the shade.
I see him, hear him, everywhere,
In all things—darkness, light,
Silence, and sound: but, most of all,
When slumber's dusky curtains fall,
I' the silent hour of night.
In all things—darkness, light,
Silence, and sound: but, most of all,
When slumber's dusky curtains fall,
I' the silent hour of night.
The Missionary.
He left his native land, and far away
Across the waters sought a world unknown,
Though well he knew that he in vain might stray
In search of one as lovely as his own.
Across the waters sought a world unknown,
Though well he knew that he in vain might stray
In search of one as lovely as his own.
He left his home, around whose humble hearth
His parents, kindred, all he valued, smiled—
Friends who had known and loved him from his birth,
And who still loved him as a favourite child.
His parents, kindred, all he valued, smiled—
Friends who had known and loved him from his birth,
And who still loved him as a favourite child.
He left the scenes by youthful hopes endeared—
The woods, the streams that soothed his infant ear,
The plants, the trees, that he himself had reared,
And every charm to love and fancy dear.
The woods, the streams that soothed his infant ear,
The plants, the trees, that he himself had reared,
And every charm to love and fancy dear.
All these he left, with sad but willing heart,
Though unallured by honours, wealth, or fame;
In them not even his wishes claimed a part,
And the world knew not of his very name.
Though unallured by honours, wealth, or fame;
In them not even his wishes claimed a part,
And the world knew not of his very name.
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