C.D. Warner, et al., comp.
The Library of the World’s Best Literature. An Anthology in Thirty Volumes. 1917.
Sir Robert Grant (1779–1838)
Faith and Hope
W
And days are dark and friends are few,
On Him I lean, who not in vain
Experienced every human pain:
He sees my wants, allays my fears,
And counts and treasures up my tears.
From heavenly wisdom’s narrow way,
To fly the good I would pursue,
Or do the sin I would not do,
Still He, who felt temptation’s power,
Shall guard me in that dangerous hour.
Deceived by those I prized too well,
He shall his pitying aid bestow
Who felt on earth severer woe,—
At once betrayed, denied, or fled,
By those who shared his daily bread.
And, sore dismayed, my spirit dies,
Still He, who once vouchsafed to bear
The sickening anguish of despair,
Shall sweetly soothe, shall gently dry,
The throbbing heart, the streaming eye.
Which covers what was once a friend,
And from his voice, his hand, his smile,
Divides me for a little while,
Thou, Savior, mark’st the tears I shed—
For thou didst weep o’er Lazarus dead!
Through every conflict but the last,
Still, still unchanging, watch beside
My painful bed, for thou hast died!
Then point to realms of cloudless day,
And wipe the latest tear away!