Star of the desert waters wild,
Who pitying hears the seaman’s cry,
The God of mercy, as a child,
On that chaste bosom loves to lie;
While soft the chorus of the sky
Their hymns of tender mercy sing,
And angel voices name on high
The mother of the heavenly king,
Ave Maris Stella!
Star of the deep! at that blest name
The waves sleep silent round the keel,
The tempests wild their fury tame
That made the deep’s foundations reel:
The soft celestial accents steal
So soothing through the realms of woe,
*****
*****
Ave Maris Stella!
Star of the mild and placid seas,
Whom rainbow rays of mercy crown,
Whose name thy faithful Portuguese
O’er all that to the depths go down,
With hymns of grateful transport own,
When gathering clouds obscure their light,
And heaven assumes an awful frown,
The star of Ocean glitters bright,
Ave Maris Stella!
Star of the deep! when angel lyres
To hymn thy holy name essay,
In vain a mortal harp aspires
To mingle in the mighty lay!
Mother of God! one living ray
Of hope our grateful bosoms fires
When storms and tempests pass away,
To join the bright immortal quires.
Ave Maris Stella!
On Candlemas-day, 1734, there was a grand entertainment for the judges, sergeants, &c. in the Temple-hall. The lord chancellor, the earl of Macclesfield, the bishop of Bangor, together with other distinguished persons, were present, and the prince of Wales attended incog. At night the comedy of “Love for Love” was acted by the company of his Majesty’s revels from the Haymarket theatre, who received a present of 50l. from the societies of the Temple. The judges, according to an ancient custom, danced “round the coal fire,” singing an old French song.[51]
THE COAL AND THE DIAMOND
A Fable for Cold Weather.