James Drummond Burns (1823-1864). Poems. II. The Child Samuel. Alfred H. Miles, ed. 1907. The Sacred Poets of the Nineteenth Century

Alfred H. Miles, ed. The Sacred Poets of the Nineteenth Century. 1907.

Poems.
II. The Child Samuel

By James Drummond Burns (1823–1864)


HUSH’D was the evening hymn,
The temple-courts were dark;
The lamp was burning dim
Before the sacred ark;
When suddenly a voice divine,	5
Rang through the silence of the shrine.

The old man, meek and mild,—
The priest of Israel—slept;
His watch, the temple-child,—
The little Levite—kept;	10
And what from Eli’s sense was seal’d
The Lord to Hannah’s son reveal’d.

Oh give me Samuel’s ear!
The open ear, O God!
Alive and quick to hear	15
Each whisper of Thy word;
Like him to answer at Thy call,
And to obey Thee first of all.

Oh give me Samuel’s heart!
A lowly heart that waits	20
Where in Thy house Thou art,
Or watches at Thy gates,
By day and night—a heart that still
Moves at the breathing of Thy will.

Oh give me Samuel’s mind!	25
A sweet unmurmuring faith,
Obedient and resign’d
To Thee, in life and death;
That I may read with child-like eyes
Truths that are hidden from the wise.	30