To the Queen
WE send thee greetings on this morn in May,
Long live the Queen, right fervently we pray!
We daughters of this country young and fair
Join all our voices, singing songs of thee,
O may the words ring clearly on the air,
And reach the island cradled in the sea.
Our Queen! lo, at the words a thrill of pride,
Of tenderness, and trust springs into life.
Our Queen, who rules so well her kingdom wide,
Our Queen, so soft in peace, so bold in strife.
Our Queen! the love of loyal hearts we give,
We join our voices and we proudly say,
God bless the sweetest Woman—and long live
The greatest Ruler in the world to-day!
In the Old Church
“The fine new kirk is finished, wife—the old has had its day,
’Tis like ourselves, a trifle worn, and out of date, and gray.
Stained windows and a tower high—I like not such a show,
Beside the cost is something great, and money does not grow.
Now when they come to me for help I’m going to tell them, plain,
That since they’ve built to please themselves they’ll ask my help in vain.”
Then sat the woman at his side: “’Tis meet God’s house should be
As good a one as we can give,” she answered tenderly.
“And we who’ve worshipped all the years in that old church so gray,
Should go with songs, and thankful hearts, into the new to-day.
For think of all the precious hours we have had over there—
The hours of penitence and tears, the hours of peace and prayer.
I went to-day to say good-bye, and as I stood alone,
The memory of blessings shared came to me, one by one.
I heard the message from the Word, the sermon good and wise,
I heard the songs of love and hope ring clearly to the skies;
And looking over to the pew we’ve worshipped in for years,
I seemed to see so many things, to see them through my tears.