HEAVEN.
LIII.
HEAVENWARD.
Toward heaven, my Father’s home, I steer,
Tossed on the billowy flood:
A man that hath no purpose here
Save seeking for his God.
Let me not swerve to right or left,
Or of thy guidance tire;
Kept in the course that heavenward leads,
Through gulphs of flood and fire.
Opposing tempests beat me back,
And I have strength no more;
O take me, Jesus, in thine arms,
And bear to yonder shore.
LIV.
“FAR BETTER.”
Many dear ones are departed
To the grave’s dark silent land:
I shall soon receive the summons
There to lie amid the band;
Where they hear not
Any more sad earth’s complaints.
Blest are they who have expired
In the Lord, supremely blest!
In the port so oft desired
They for ever safely rest.
How much better,
There to sing than sigh with us!
LV.
EARTH AND HEAVEN.
My cup doth often while below,
With Marah’s waters overflow:
But care and grief which here annoy,
Above shall be absorbed in joy.
The fire of love within the breast
Is here but fond desire at best:
The faintest spark in heaven it knows
With an immortal ardour glows.
The joy for which I here can hope
Is but the small tormenting drop:
A fathomless, eternal sea
Of bliss shall there encompass me.
A distant clouded glimpse is all
That Faith on earth may vision call:
But unto Faith and Hope in heaven
Are prospect and possession given.
Crumbs are on earth our richest fare:
But banquets wait the pilgrim there.
Here cold and faint the songs we raise:
But deathless there will be our praise.
Here evening shades envelope me;
All darkness shall from Zion flee;
Without a veil it will be given
God face to face to see in Heaven.
LVI.
THE SAVED.
I see a myriad saved,
Who once were faint as I;
Now they have climbed the rocky steeps,
And reign with Christ on high.
They sing on yonder side,
From doubt and sorrow free,
The praises of the bleeding Lamb,
The song of Calvary.
LVII.
ENDLESS PRAISE.
But begun will be the singing
Unto Jesus round His throne,
By the saved when tardy ages
With their songs and joys are flown:
And for ever,
Shall the golden harps resound.
There shall I rehearse the story,
How a weakling faint and worn,
Was o’er rocks and through deep waters,
To eternal glory borne:
Jesus wholly,
Shall absorb the songs of heaven,
LVIII.
APPROACHING LAND.
(Thought to have been suggested to the seraphic Bard, Williams, of Pantycelyn, by the approach of Columbus to the shores of the Western Continent.)
Here I am a passing stranger,
Far away my native land;
O’er the wide and stormy ocean,
Where lies Canaan’s happy strand.
Raging storms of strong temptation
Drove me from my home astray:
Bear me, balmy southern breezes,
To its verdant shores away!
Spite of waves and counter-currents
Rolling o’er me from each side,
Through the seas and storms opposing,
I shall stem the swelling tide.
Than the floods thy word is stronger—
Stronger than the ’whelming wave:
All my hope I calmly venture
On thy promise, Lord, to save.
Not much longer must I battle
With the billows thus forlorn,
Land is nigh, each faithful promise
Shews how nigh Salvation’s morn.
Not the deep shall be my dwelling:—
Joyful shall my spirit come,
When the seas have cleansed and proved me,
To my loved eternal Home.
Yea, methinks I catch already
Fragrant perfumes from the land,
Wafted by celestial breezes;
Surely it is near at hand.
O could I its coast discover,
Blessed country free from strife;
There my dearest friends are dwelling,
There is everlasting life!
CLOSE.
If there be holy contest
Who ought to sing the loudest
On plains of heaven;
Who most to Christ indebted,
Who loftiest exalted,
Being most forgiven:
A plea there will appear for me;
For of the many,
Whom sovereign Mercy,
With arm almighty,
May raise that state to see,
No one more undeserving
Of joy so great can be.
One song shall echo through the throng:
“To Him who loved us:
To Him who washed us:
To Him who saved us,
From deep and miry clay!”
The thrilling anthem doubling,
Unending, night and day.
INDEX
Of the Original Welsh First-lines, corresponding to the order of the Translations.
[I. Canu wnaf am gariad Iesu] 1 [II. Coronwyd, do, Iachawdwr byd] 1 [III. Iesu ydyw fy Nghreawdwr] 2 [IV. Pwy wela’i o Edom yn dôd] 5 [V. Yn Eden, cofiaf hyny byth] 5 [VI. (English Original)] 6 [VII. (English Original)] 7 [VIII. Yn y dyfroedd mawr a’r tonau] 7 [IX. Am graig i adeiladu] 8 [X. Ar dymhorau o ofidiau] 9 [XI. Llefwch, genhadon Duw o hyd] 9 [XII, Dyma babell y cyfarfod] 10 [XIII. Angylion dont yn gysson] 10 [XIV. Cofia f’ enaid cyn it’ dreulio] 11 [XV. O’r fath wagedd, fath ffolineb] 11 [XVI. Fy enaid llwythog, euog i] 12 [XVII. Chwilio bum y greadigaeth] 13 [XVIII. Ffowch deganau gwael y ddaear] 13 [XIX. Anweledig rwy’n dy garu] 14 [XX. Rhyfedd na buaswn ’nawr] 14 [XXI. O clyw fy ngwaedd, a gwêl fy ngwedd] 15 [XXII. Os gwelir fi, bechadur] 15 [XXIII. Dysg fi dewi megys Aaron] 16 [XXIV. P’odd y galla’i ddweud sydd ynwyf] 17 [XXV. (English Original)] 17 [XXVI. A raid i gystudd garw’r groes] 18 [XXVII. Mae Crist a’i wradwyddiadau] 18 [XXVIII. Mi feddyliais yn y boreu] 18 [XXIX. Mi dreuliaf weddill dyddiau f’ oes] 19 [XXX. Draw, draw ar y cefnfor] 20 [XXXI. O Iesu’m ffrynd a’m prynwr drud] 20 [XXXII. Fy ngweddi dôs i’r nêf] 20 [XXXIII. Pererin wyf i’r Ganaan fry] 21 [XXXIV. Pe cawn adenydd boreu wawr] 21 [XXXV. Dysgwyl ’rwyf ar hyd yr hir nos] 22 [XXXVI. ’Rwy’n edrych dros y bryniau pell] 22 [XXXVII (English Original)] 23 [XXXVIII. Darfydded sôn am bob ymryson mwy] 24 [XXXIX. Ymlaen, ymlaen, chwi filwyr Duw] 24 [XL. Efengyl yr Oen] 24 [XLI. Pob llwyth ac iaith ddaw yn gytun] 24 [XLII. Gosod babell yn ngwlad Gosen] 25 [XLIII. Yn nhŷ fy Nuw, lle tawel, llawn o hedd] 25 [XLIV, ’Rhwn sy’n peri’r mellt i hedeg] 26 [XLV. O na bai fy mhen yn ddyfroedd] 26 [XLVI. Achub Sion er dy glôd] 26 [XLVII. At holl dylwythau’r ddaear] 27 [XLVIII. Ni pheri ddim yn hir] 27 [XLIX. Ar bellderau tragwyddoldeb] 27 [L. (i.) Eisteddai teithiwr blin] 28 [(ii.) Ar lan yr Iorddonen] 28 [LI. Daw dydd o brysur bwyso] 29 [LII. Clywch, clywch tebygaf clywaf lais] 30 [LIII. Wele’n dyfod ar y cwmwl] 30 [LIV. Rwy’n morio tua chartre’m Nêr] 31 [LV. Torf o’mrodyr sydd yn gorwedd] 31 [LVI. Fy phiol yma sydd yn llawn] 32 [LVII. Mi wela fyrdd dan sêl] 33 [LVIII. Dechreu canu, dechreu canmol] 33 [LIX. Dyn dyeithr ydwyf yma] 33 [LX. Os oes rhyw ddadl hyfryd] 35
ALPHABETICAL INDEX
OF THE FIRST-LINES OF THE TRANSLATIONS.
[A day for solemn trial] 29 [Advance, advance, ye hosts of God] 24 [All tribes and tongues together come] 24 [And must the cross attend my way] 17 [Angelic throngs unnumbered] 10 [A pilgrim I to Canaan flee] 21 [A weary pilgrim sat] 28 [But begun will be the singing] 33 [Cry, faithful messengers of God] 9 [Direct unto my God] 20 [Down to that gloomy stream] 28 [Emmanuel’s name] 24 [Far, far on the ocean] 19 [Fix a dwelling, Lord, in Goshen] 25 [Fly, Earth’s gaudy, fading trifles] 13 [From Edom whom see I returned] 5 [Hark, hark, methinks I hear a voice] 30 [Heedless soul of mine, bethink thee] 10 [Here I am a passing stranger] 33 [Here, behold, the seat of mercy] 9 [He who darts the wingèd lightning] 26 [How shall I my case discover] 16 [I am in the lone night waiting] 22 [If I, the sin-benighted] 15 [If there be holy contest] 35 [I had sought in the creation] 12 [I’ll spend my few remaining days] 18 [I look beyond the distant hills] 22 [In Eden—Memory e’er will tell] 5 [In the morning I expected] 18 [In thine abode] 25 [I see a myriad saved] 33 [I turn when afflicted with grief] 8 [It shall not long remain] 27 [I would sing Thy love, my Saviour] 1 [Jesus Christ is my creator] 2 [Jesus, my Saviour and my God] 20 [Let brethren cease] 24 [Lo, He comes on clouds of glory] 30 [Lord, hear my cry and see my case] 14 [Many dear ones are departed] 31 [My cup doth often while below] 32 [My gentle Lamb, O come to me] 6 [My Lord with his affliction] 18 [O that now mine eyes were fountains] 26 [O the weakness, O the folly] 11 [O seek a rock to build on] 7 [Rescue Zion, for thy praise] 26 [Rough our way and dark the night] 5 [Strange that I am not cut down] 14 [Sweet, sweet] 17 [Teach me Aaron’s thoughtful silence] 15 [Thorns had the Saviour of mankind] 1 [Though unseen, O Lord, I love thee] 13 [Thy bright, swift pinions, Dawn, had I] 21 [To all the tribes of earth] 27 [To thy regions, World-eternal] 27 [Toward heaven, my Father’s home, I steer] 31 [Unhappy soul, what sayest thou] 11 [What though the dark cloud] 23 [Who amid the swelling billows] 7
W. SPURRELL, PRINTER, CARMARTHEN.