The Beautiful Land. BY T. MACKELLAR. THERE is a land immortal, And open wide the door; That glorious land is Heaven, Pass through that gate in dying, And freely enter in. THE BEAUTIFUL LAND. Though dark and drear the passage Yet grace comes with the message Their sighs are lost in singing, 13 145 A Prayer for Guidance. FATHER! the skies are dark above me; I do not ask that Thou shouldst lighten I ask Thee not to make less weary The waste through which my pathway lies; I would but feel that path, though dreary, Is leading onward to the skies. Guide me, my Father! if before me I do not falter at the distance, That parts me from my heavenly home; 147 A PRAYER FOR GUIDANCE. Weary as seems this earth's existence, Nor do I dread the ills that gather, Thick "from the cradle to the grave,"Not from earth's cares and griefs, my Father, Do I implore thy power to save. Only from this-this darkness brooding I seek thy aid; I ask direction; Saviour! Thou knowest that earth is dreary, Oh God! my God! make no delaying! Oh, let me hear thy Spirit saying, "This is the way! Thy Guide is nigh!" 148 THE SONG OF THE SEA-SHELL. Che Song of the Sea-Shell. BY ABDY. I CAME from the ocean, a billow passed o'er me, And covered with sea-weed and glittering foam, I fell on the sand, and a stranger soon bore me, To deck the gay halls of his far-distant home, Encompassed with exquisite myrtle and roses, Still, still, in the deep, I am pining for thee, And the low voice within me, my feeling discloses, And evermore murmurs the sound of the sea. The sky-lark at morn pours a carol of pleasure, At eve the sad nightingale warbles her notes; The harps in our halls nightly sound a glad mea sure, And beauty's sweet song on the air nightly floats; |