THE CELESTIAL COUNTRY. 223

Strive, man, to win that glory;
Toil, man, to gain that light;
Send Hope before to grasp it,
Till Hope be lost in sight;
Till JESUS gives the portion
Those blessed souls to fill-
The insatiate, yet satisfied,
The full, yet craving still.

Brief life is here our portion,

Brief sorrow, short-lived care;
The life that knows no ending,
The tearless life, is there.

And through the sacred lilies
And flowers on every side,
The happy dear-bought people

Go wandering far and wide;
Their breasts are filled with gladness,
Their mouths are tuned to praise,

What time, now safe for ever,

On former sins they gaze:

The fouler was the error,

The sadder was the fall, The ampler are the praises Of Him who pardoned all.

And JESUS to His true ones
Brings trophies fair to see;
And JESUS shall be loved, and
Beheld in Galilee -

224

THE CELESTIAL COUNTRY.

Beheld, when morn shall waken,
And shadows shall decay,
And each true-hearted servant
Shall shine as doth the day;
And every ear shall hear it-
"Behold thy King's array,
Behold thy GOD in beauty;
The Law hath passed away!"

Yes! GOD, my King and Portion,
In fulness of Thy grace,
We then shall see forever,

And worship face to face.
Then all the halls of Syon

For aye shall be complete,
And in the Land of Beauty
All things of beauty meet.

For thee, O dear, dear country!
Mine eyes their vigils keep;

For very love, beholding

Thy happy name, they weep.

The mention of thy glory

Is unction to the breast,

And medicine in sickness,

And love, and life, and rest.

O, one, O, only Mansion!

O, Paradise of Joy!

Where tears are ever banished,

And smiles have no alloy,

THE CELESTIAL COUNTRY. 225

Beside thy living waters

All plants are, great and small,
The cedar of the forest,

The hyssop of the wall;
With jaspers glow thy bulwarks,
Thy streets with emeralds blaze;
The sardius and the topaz

Unite in thee their rays;
Thine ageless walls are bonded
With amethyst unpriced;
Thy saints build up its fabric,
And the corner-stone is CHRIST.

The Cross is all thy splendor,
The Crucified thy praise;
His laud and benediction

Thy ransomed people raise; "JESUS, the Gem of Beauty,

True GOD and Man," they sing,

"The never-failing Garden, The ever-golden Ring;

The Door, the Pledge, the Husband,
The Guardian of his Court;

The Day-star of Salvation,
The Porter and the Port!"

Thou hast no shore, fair ocean!
Thou hast no time, bright day!
Dear fountain of refreshment
To pilgrims far away!

226 THE CELESTIAL COUNTRY.

Upon the Rock of Ages

They raise thy holy tower;
Thine is the victor's laurel,
And thine the golden dower!

Thou feel'st in mystic rapture,
O Bride that know'st no guile,
The Prince's sweetest kisses,

The Prince's loveliest smile;
Unfading lilies, bracelets

Of living pearl thine own;
The LAMB is ever near thee,

The Bridegroom thine alone.
The Crown is He to guerdon,
The Buckler to protect,
And He Himself the Mansion,
And He the Architect.

The only art thou needest-
Thanksgiving for thy lot;

The only joy thou seekest

The Life where Death is not.
And all thine endless leisure,

In sweetest accents, sings

The ill that was thy merit,

The wealth that is thy King's!

JERUSALEM THE GOLDEN.

Jerusalem the Golden,

With milk and honey blest,
Beneath thy contemplation

Sink heart and voice oppressed.
I know not, O, I know not,

What social joys are there!
What radiancy of glory,

What bliss beyond compare!

They stand, those halls of Syon,
Conjubilant with song,

And bright with many an angel,
And all the martyr throng;
The Prince is ever in them,
The daylight is serene;
The pastures of the Blessed
Are decked in glorious sheen.

There is the Throne of David,

And there, from care released,
The song of them that triumph,
The shout of them that feast ;
And they who, with their Leader,
Have conquered in, the fight,
Forever and forever

Are clad in robes of white!