Than brightest transports, choicest prayers,
Which bloom this hour, and fade.

--John Henry Newman.

Fair is the soul, rare is the soul
Who has kept, after youth is past,
All the art of the child, all the heart of the child,
Holding his faith at last.

--Frank Gelett Burgess.

GOD KNOWS

God knows--not I--the devious way
Wherein my faltering feet may tread,
Before into the light of day,
My steps from out this gloom are led,
And, since my Lord the path doth see,
What matter if 'tis hid from me?

God knows--not I--how sweet accord
Shall grow at length from out this clash
Of earthly discords which have jarred
On soul and sense; I hear the crash,
Yet feel and know that on his ear
Breaks harmony--full, deep, and clear.

God knows--not I--why, when I'd fain
Have walked in pastures green and fair,
The path he pointed me hath lain
Through rocky deserts, bleak and bare.
I blindly trust--since 'tis his will--
This way lies safety, that way ill.

He knoweth, too, despite my will
I'm weak when I should be most strong.
And after earnest wrestling still
I see the right yet do the wrong.
Is it that I may learn at length
Not mine, but his, the saving strength?

His perfect plan I may not grasp,
Yet I can trust Love Infinite,
And with my feeble fingers clasp
The hand which leads me into light.
My soul upon his errands goes,
The end I know not--but God knows.

THE LORD'S LEADING

Thus far the Lord hath led us, in darkness and in day,
Through all the varied stages of the narrow homeward way;
Long since he took that journey--he trod that path alone;
Its trials and its dangers full well himself hath known.

Thus far the Lord hath led us; the promise hath not failed.
The enemy, encountered oft, has never quite prevailed:
The shield of faith has turned aside, or quenched each fiery dart,
The Spirit's sword in weakest hands has forced him to depart.

Thus far the Lord hath led us; the waters have been high,
But yet in passing through them we felt that he was nigh.
A very present helper in trouble we have found,
His comforts most abounded when our sorrows did abound.

Thus far the Lord hath led us; our need hath been supplied,
And mercy hath encompassed us about on every side;