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    HOME HERE, AND HOME IN HEAVEN. PART II. HOME IN HEAVEN

    Home, round whose radiant throne forever burns
    The heavenly ray of pure, undying love,
    To which the christian oft for comfort turns,
    Whose joys are centered in that world above.
    HHHH 14.1

    ‘Tis where the great Creator reigns supreme,
    Before whose throne the bright seraphic choirs,
    To praise his matchless love, their noblest theme,
    Adoring bow, and strike their golden lyres,
    HHHH 14.2

    ‘Tis where the lonely pilgrim sighs to go,
    Who long has toiled upon this desert strand,
    No more the scorns and frowns of earth to know,
    Within the precincts of the better land.
    HHHH 14.3

    ‘Tis where the weary find a long repose,
    In those elysian gardens, blooming fair;
    Where peace through every bosom gently flows,
    Unchecked by sorrow or corroding care.
    HHHH 15.1

    Where saints of every clime have looked with joy,
    By storms of persecution sadly driven;
    For there no grief or suffering would annoy,
    The end of all their hopes—their home in heaven.
    HHHH 15.2

    ‘Tis where the excellent of earth will meet
    At last, no more to part, on Canaan’s shore;
    Where saints of every age with joy shall greet,
    And in the kingdom reign forevermore.
    HHHH 15.3

    ‘Tis where the golden city stands, of light,
    Whose glories language dimly can portray:
    With bright and beauteous forms, arrayed in white,
    The saints shall bask in its celestial ray.
    HHHH 15.4

    Its walls with precious stones adorned, outvie
    The many-colored rainbow tints, so fair.
    With dazzling splendor shine its turrets high;
    While Jesus is the light and glory there.
    HHHH 15.5

    And when shall ope its glittering, pearly gates,
    For all the righteous, then forever blest,
    ‘Tis there to welcome us, the Saviour waits,
    Within the mansions of eternal rest.
    HHHH 15.6

    And round the fadeless brow he shall entwine
    A brilliant crown, bedecked with jewels rare,
    And in his glorious image we shall shine,
    While palms of victory our hands shall bear.
    HHHH 16.1

    Where all the saints with harps of gold shall sing,
    In sweetest notes to their Redeemer’s praise,
    And make the heavenly arches joyful ring
    With thrilling strains their loud hosannas raise.
    HHHH 16.2

    And there the crystal river sweetly flows,
    Beside whose waters Life’s unfading tree
    With healing virtues rife, immortal glows,
    To all the ransomed nations promised free.
    HHHH 16.3

    This sad and groaning earth that “waxeth old,”
    In all its Eden prime shall bloom again,
    When at the restitution, long foretold,
    The glorious King of kings shall come to reign.
    HHHH 16.4

    Where thorns and thistles in profusion grew,
    The Box, the Pine, the Myrtle tree, shall thrive;
    The gushing rivulets spring forth anew,
    And nature’s charms in desert wastes revive.
    HHHH 16.5

    Majestic forests point their lofty heights
    In grandeur towards a pure, unclouded sky;
    Whose depths undarkened many an eye delight,
    In which no dangers lurk, from which to fly.
    HHHH 16.6

    There flowers of every hue the air perfume,
    And on the breeze is borne their odors rare;
    The fragrant rose adorned with richest bloom,
    Secretes no thorn beneath its petals fair.
    HHHH 17.1

    There fields of living green that know no blight
    In beauty lie amid luxuriant trees,
    Reflecting golden hues with silvery light,
    While waving gently in the passing breeze.
    HHHH 17.2

    And there may we, ‘mid clustering fruits and flowers,
    With unmolested step unwearied rove;
    Or in the quiet, never-fading bowers,
    Reflect upon the wonders of his love.
    HHHH 17.3

    From balmy groves shall rise the raptured song
    Of the redeemed, in one harmonious voice;
    While bright-winged birds their sweetest notes prolong.
    And in their maker’s praises all rejoice.
    HHHH 17.4

    And in the music of that blissful throng,
    That echoes o’er those ever-verdant plains,
    No broken harps untuned, to swell the song,
    No mournful memories waked by minor strains.
    HHHH 17.5

    O there shall hate and wrong forever cease,
    Whence every vestige dark of sin bath fled,
    No dread of evil mar the spirit’s peace,
    No cruel shaft from envy’s quiver sped.
    HHHH 17.6

    There tears shall be forever wiped away,
    The waves of trouble o’er us cease to roll,
    Where beams the sunlight of an endless day,
    And joy unspeakable fills every soul.
    HHHH 18.1

    There no disease shall waste the form away,
    No languishing upon a bed of pain,
    Where “the inhabitants no more shall say,
    I’m sick” in all that peaceful, glorious reign.
    HHHH 18.2

    No farewell word falls heavy on the ear,
    As life’s last flickering ray is waning fast;
    No parting hand awakes the silent tear,
    As chilling fears arise that ‘tis the last.
    HHHH 18.3

    And there will ne’er be found a marble stone;
    To tell where lie the loved in dreamless sleep.
    No mourner seen, with silent step and lone,
    To go beside a little mound to weep.
    HHHH 18.4

    And there no wintry winds or storms arise,
    No summer heat to spread its burning wing,
    But mild and clear the climate of those skies,
    Where nature thrives in one perpetual spring.
    HHHH 18.5

    In vain the worldling calls the traveler back,
    Or lures to loiter by the way-side more,
    Whose footsteps tread the well-known, beaten track,
    That leads to his own loved cottage door.
    HHHH 18.6

    Shall we with ardor less the path pursue
    To yon bright mansions of our blest abode?
    Or, with their shining turrets just in view,
    Grow weary of the rough and thorny road?
    HHHH 19.1

    Shall we repose in the enchanted bowers,
    While dangers thicken fast on every side?
    Or idly stop to pluck forbidden flowers,
    That tempting strew the way but to misguide?
    HHHH 19.2

    Are we so blinded by the vail of sin,
    That heavenly glories vainly for us shine?
    Or dry become the living spring within?
    The branch decayed, unnourished by the vine?
    HHHH 19.3

    Are we thus bound in Apathy’s cold chains,
    Upon the verge of unrelenting woe?
    Full eager to secure our sordid gains,
    Full easy let eternal interests go?
    HHHH 19.4

    May grace divine upon this thirsty land
    Descend in gentle and refreshing showers;
    Some genial ray the dormant soul expand,
    And wake to energy its latent powers.
    HHHH 19.5

    Be every languid nerve to action stirred,
    While mercy’s voice in pleading accents calls,
    Ere, her sweet melting strains no longer heard,
    Upon our head the sword of justice falls.
    HHHH 19.6

    To hopes of earthly mould why should we cling,
    And thus impede our progress to the skies?
    That, as they perish, clip the spirit’s wing,
    And bud us fall when most we need to rise,
    HHHH 20.1

    When there’s a hope that ever will endure,
    The Blessed Hope, that with such luster shines,
    That will for us true happiness secure,
    And lead us on to purer, lovlier climes?
    HHHH 20.2

    And none within whose breast this hope was bright,
    As through the dark and shadowy vale they trod,
    But wrote this truth in characters of light:
    Death hath no terrors for the man of God.
    HHHH 20.3

    If such the balm its influence will give,
    That soothes the pangs of life’s inspiring breath,
    Who would not, though in sorrow, wish to live
    The christian’s life, to die the christian’s death.
    HHHH 20.4

    Though drear the wastes through which thy pathway lies,
    And wet with tears the rough, unyielding soil,
    One garnered soul, a tenant of the skies
    Repays a life of unremitting toil.
    HHHH 20.5

    One rescued from the realms of endless night,
    Forever washed from sin’s unhallowed stain;
    One added to the Saviour’s casket bright,
    For whom he hath not bled and died in vain;
    HHHH 20.6

    One more to chant in blissful strains above,
    The praise of Him who saves by grace benign,
    A joy for angels round the throne of love,
    A star in thine own diadem to shine.
    HHHH 21.1

    Though thou possessest neither house nor lands,
    And often hard may seem thy frugal fare,
    All things are in thy heavenly Father’s hands,
    And by a deed unfailing thou art heir.
    HHHH 21.2

    And Nature spreads her charms as free for thee,
    As him whose pathway is with plenty crowned;
    Nor are they half enjoyed, unless we see
    His love and power displayed in all around.
    HHHH 21.3

    Enough is thine with present wants supplied,
    No care to borrow from the future dim,
    For He who feeds the ravens will provide
    Much more for those who put their trust in Him.
    HHHH 21.4

    Not in prosperity’s deceitful glow
    Can we discern on what our joy depends;
    Adversity’s dark shadows plainer show
    How much of light and strength heaven’s radiance lends.
    HHHH 21.5

    Ah! how the martyrs, with such love possessed.
    Have calmly suffered ‘mid the scorching flame,
    Who welcomed death as a delivering guest,
    Though in a thousand horrid shapes it came.
    HHHH 21.6

    Ere ceased the rage of persecution’s storm,
    Had millions, deluged in its crimson flood,
    Through all the tortures malice could perform,
    Declared the truth and sealed it with their blood.
    HHHH 22.1

    How few of those who labor now to raise
    The glorious standards of the cross so high,
    In acclamations loud its glory praise,
    Upon it sacrificed would dare to die.
    HHHH 22.2

    And some to their own loved and native land
    Have bid adieu, benighted souls to save,
    Who now on many a foreign, heathen strand.
    And sea-girt isle, have found a lonely grave.
    HHHH 22.3

    Unlike the land where polished arts refine,
    Unlike the comforts that surround us here,
    The cruel hardships of a barbarous clime,
    Where hearts grow hard, inured to misery’s tear.
    HHHH 22.4

    Such grief, from kindred friends unjustly torn,
    The terror-stricken soul can only know,
    Whose wounded limbs the clanking chains have borne
    Confined with prison bars in dungeons low.
    HHHH 22.5

    Innumerable blessings round us strewn,
    In mercy sent to cheer the path forlorn,
    How oft we pass unheeded on, unknown,
    But find, and only look to find, a thorn.
    HHHH 22.6

    All we can suffer for His sake below,
    But adds to treasures in a world more fair;
    The very tears in bitterness that flow,
    Perchance as crystal gems may glisten there.
    HHHH 23.1

    And they who enter through those gates must here
    Within the fiery crucible be tried,
    Till in the soul His image shall appear,
    Who gives us strength its searchings to abide.
    HHHH 23.2

    The deeper we may drink of grief like this,
    That tends to purify and make us white,
    The deeper shall we quaff those founts of bliss,
    That sparkle in the beams of heaven’s own light.
    HHHH 23.3

    Who could endure his presence, who has led
    For us a life of sorrow, bled and died,
    That in his Mater’s footsteps feared to tread.
    And by his precious promises abide.
    HHHH 23.4

    O then no more thine arms complaining fold,
    Though darkness for awhile thy way enshroud;
    But watch, and soon thou shalt with joy behold,
    The sunbeams breaking through the parting cloud
    HHHH 23.5

    More pleased the Lord may be when in the hour
    Of deep affliction, or of dark despair,
    Without one ray of light, we trust his power,
    Than when his highest praise our lips declare.
    HHHH 23.6

    O sterner conflicts are the lot of those
    Whose roving fancies ne’er were tamed by ill;
    And heavier must fall their chastening woes,
    To curb the spirits and subdue the will.
    HHHH 24.1

    But who that e’er has bowed beneath the rod,
    And all its calm subduing influence shared,
    Though sharp his pangs and dark the vale he trod.
    Would ask or wish to have one trial spared.
    HHHH 24.2

    In view of years in earthly pleasure spent,
    Of all my follies since I’ve borne the cross,
    Of good I might have done, with blessings lent,
    While mortal shall I mourn my lasting loss.
    HHHH 24.3

    Thrive blessed are they, the few, who early find
    How poor the fleeting pleasures have pursued,
    How rich the growing treasures of the mind
    To God resigned, and by his grace renewed.
    HHHH 24.4

    No more with worldly schemes my interests blend;
    For holier purposes absorb my soul,
    That will, until they reach their blissful end,
    My thoughts, my feelings and my acts control.
    HHHH 24.5

    And from thee, Lord, O never let me part;
    For thou dost stoop so low my soul to raise;
    Thy mercies, may they ever melt my heart,
    Thy goodness may I never cease to praise.
    HHHH 24.6

    O glorious prospect! blissful though! That we,
    With holy angels in that blest abode
    The dear Redeemer, face to face shall see,
    Forever in the presence of our God.
    HHHH 25.1

    O lovely Paradise! e’en now my soul
    Would plume its wings for thy bright realms above
    In regions fair where cooling rivers roll,
    And bathe within the ocean of his love.
    HHHH 25.2

    A glimpse of thine all-uncreated light,
    A foretaste of thy deep, unbounded bliss,
    Will dim earth’s brightest treasures to our sight,
    And spoil the pleasures of a world like this.
    HHHH 25.3

    Sweet warblers of its bright, celestial plains,
    With plumage fairer than the hues of morn,
    I fain would listen to thy cheerful strains,
    Where fragrant blossoms hill and vale adorn.
    HHHH 25.4

    I long to go; but O can I be there,
    Unworthy, vile, such glory to behold?
    ‘Tis by his grace I trembling hope to share
    An entrance in the Shepherd’s guardian fold.
    HHHH 25.5

    A morn will dawn on this dark night of woe;
    A sunny calm succeed the midnight storm;
    To those who joyfully endure, below,
    And faithful to their trust his will perform.
    HHHH 25.6

    A few more conflicts on this stormy shore,
    A few more trials in this vale below.
    And we shall shout our toils and sufferings o’er,
    Where everlasting pleasures we shall know.
    HHHH 26.1

    Then fainting pilgrim, on the thorny way,
    O look not back nor let thy labors cease;
    For soon the rich reward will thee repay,
    When Jesus comes to bring a sweet release.
    HHHH 26.2

    Not with a purple robe or crown of thorns
    The Conqueror comes, to certain victory led;
    A brighter crown his lovely brow adorns
    Than ever o’er a monarch’s, luster shed.
    HHHH 26.3

    In all his Father’s glory he’ll descend,
    His saints to gather home in endless day;
    While shining hosts of angels will attend
    His burning chariot, on its glorious way.
    HHHH 26.4

    And when the parting heavens shall back retire,
    And clothed with power the Son of man appears,
    Before the flame of his avenging ire,
    The loftiest bow, the stoutest quail with fear.
    HHHH 26.5

    Not so with those who love and serve him here,
    And onward press, whatever may annoy,
    Who long for their Deliverer to appear,
    That in his presence they may share his joy.
    HHHH 26.6

    No! This will be the burden of their song,
    As untold glory lights the careworn brow:
    Lo! this is He whom we’ve waited long,
    And from the storm of wrath he’ll save us now.
    HHHH 27.1

    Death, thou mayest sever nature’s tenderest ties,
    And in the tomb consign thy shining spoil:
    A germ of life within its bosom lies,
    To bloom upon a more congenial soil.
    HHHH 27.2

    And thou may’st proudly wave thy sable plumes;
    Yet soon thy desolating triumph ends;
    Then light from heaven thy darkest cell illumes,
    And power divine thy strongest barrier rends.
    HHHH 27.3

    The myriads long held beneath thy sway,
    In final victory shall rise again;
    Bright and immortal clothed their lifeless clay;
    Whilst thou, O Death, shall be forever slain.
    HHHH 27.4

    Hail blessed day! the end of care and pain,
    When earthly tumults and its sorrows cease;
    And he shall wave, whose right it is to reign,
    O’er all, the scepter of the Prince of peace.
    HHHH 27.5

    O worthy is the Lamb! for sinners slain,
    Who hath redeemed us by his blood, will ring
    From millions washed from every sinful stain,
    In songs of endless praises to their King.
    HHHH 27.6

    When that auspicious morn shall dawn at last,
    Upon a world of sin, in ruin lost,
    O may my lot with the redeemed be cast,
    No more upon life’s fearful billows tossed.
    HHHH 28.1

    And when the strife is o’er, the victory won,
    And we no more in weariness shall roam,
    O then how sweet, life’s care and labor done,
    To have at last, “The Christian’s welcome Home!”
    HHHH 28.2

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