Father of Light! exhaustless source of good! Supreme, eternal, self-existent God! Before the beamy sun dispensed a ray, Flamed in the azure vault, and gave the day; Before the glimmering moon with borrow'd light Shone queen amid the silver host of night, High in the heavens, thou reign'dst superior Lord, By suppliant angels worshipp'd and adored. With the celestial choir then let me join In cheerful praises to the power divine. To sing thy praise, do thou, O God! inspire A mortal breast with more than mortal fire. In dreadful majesty thou sitt'st enthroned, With light encircled, and with glory crown'd: Through all infinitude extends thy reign, For thee, nor heaven, nor heaven of heavens contain; But though thy throne is fix'd above the sky Thy omnipresence fills immensity.
BYRON.
BY LUCRETIA M. DAVIDSON.
His faults were great, his virtues less, His mind a burning lamp of Heaven; His talents were bestowed to bless, But were as vainly lost as given.
His was a harp of heavenly sound, The numbers wild, and bold, and clear; But ah! some demon, hovering round, Tuned its sweet chords to Sin and Fear.
His was a mind of giant mould, Which grasped at all beneath the skies; And his, a heart, so icy cold, That virtue in its recess dies.
JOY AND SORROW.
BY J. G. BROOKS.