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| INTO the tomb of ages past | |
| Another year hath now been cast; | |
| Shall time, unheeded, take its flight, | |
| Nor leave one ray of moral light, | |
| That no man’s pilgrimage may shine, | 5 |
| And lead his soul to spheres divine? | |
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| Ah, which of us, if self-reviewed, | |
| Can boast unfailing rectitude? | |
| Who can declare his wayward will | |
| More prone to righteous deeds than ill? | 10 |
| Or, in his retrospect of life, | |
| No traces find of passion’s strife? | |
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| A “still small voice,” as time departs, | |
| Bids us inspect our secret hearts, | |
| Whose hidden depths too oft contain | 15 |
| Some spot, which suffered to remain, | |
| Will (slight at first) by sad neglect | |
| The hue of vice at last reflect. | |
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| With firm resolve your bosoms nerve | |
| The God of Truth alone to serve, | 20 |
| Speech, thought, and act to regulate, | |
| By what His perfect laws dictate; | |
| Nor from His sanctuary stray, | |
| By worldly idols lured away. | |
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| Peace to the house of Israel! | 25 |
| May joy within it ever dwell! | |
| May sorrow on the opening year, | |
| Forgetting its accustomed tear, | |
| With smiles again fond kindred meet, | |
| With hopes revived the festal greet! | 30 |
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