ll when darkening clouds conceal
The shining sun;
But then I know
God lives and loves, and say, since it is so,
_Thy will be done_.

I cannot speak
In happy tones; the tear-drops on my cheek
Show I am sad:
But I can speak
Of _grace_ to suffer with submission meek
Until made glad.

I do not see
Why God should e'en permit some things to be,
When _He is love_;
But I can see,
Though often dimly, through the mystery
His hand above!

I do not know
Where falls the seed that I have tried to sow
With greatest care;
But I _shall know_
The meaning of each waiting hour below
_Sometime, somewhere_!

I do not look
Upon the present, nor in Nature's book,
To read my fate;
But I _do look_
For _promised blessings_ in God's holy Book;
And _I can wait_.

I may not try
To keep the hot tears back--but hush that sigh,
"It might have been";
And try to still
Each rising murmur, and to _God's sweet will_
Respond "_Amen!_"

--Miss Ophelia G. Browning.

AS HE WILLS

He sendeth sun, he sendeth shower,
Alike they're needful for the flower;
And joys and tears alike are sent
To give the soul fit nourishment.
As comes to me or cloud or sun,
Father! thy will, not mine, be done.

Can loving children e'er reprove,
With murmurs, whom they trust and love?
Creator! I would ever be
A trusting, loving child to thee:
As comes to me or cloud or sun,
Father! thy will, not mine, be done.

O ne'er will I at life repine--
Enough that thou hast made it mine;
When falls the shadow cold of death
I yet will sing with parting breath,
As comes to me or cloud or sun,
Father! thy will, not mine, be done.

--Sarah Flower Adams.

ACCORDING TO THY WILL

If I were told that I must die to-morrow,
That the next sun
Which sinks should bear me past all fear and sorrow
For any one,
All the fight fought, all the short journey through,
What should I do?

I do not think that I should shrink or falter,
But just go on
Doing my work, nor change nor seek to alter
Aught that is gone;
But rise, and move,