That ocean you have late survey’d

That ocean you have late survey’d,
Those rocks I too have seen;
But I, afflicted and dismay’d,
You, tranquil and serene.

You from the flood-controlling steep
Saw stretch’d before your view,
With conscious joy, the threatening deep,
No longer such to you.

To me the waves, that ceaseless broke
Upon the dangerous coast,
Hoarsely and ominously spoke
Of all my treasure lost.

Your sea of troubles you have past,
And found the peaceful shore;
I, tempest-toss’d, and wreck’d at last,
Come home to port no more.

 

William Cowper – October 1780

With my breath so keen and chilling

With my breath so keen and chilling,
I have stripped the branches bare;
And my snow-flakes white are filling,
Feather-like, the frosty air.

Coming o’er the lofty mountains,
There I left a robe of white;
I have locked the sparkling fountains,
I have chained the river bright.

from “Winter” by HP Nichols

Whilst some to range

Whilst some to range the breezy hill are gone,
I lingered on the river’s marge alone,
Mingled with groups of ancient sailors gray,
And watched the last bright sunshine steal away.

from The Greenwich Pensioners by William Lisle Bowles

hagen-ambrock

 

All things are long passed away and far

Oh! All things are long passed away and far.
A light is shining but the distant star
From which it still comes to me has been dead
A thousand years … In the dim phantom boat
That glided past some ghastly thing was said.
A clock just struck within some house remote.
Which house?—I long to still my beating heart.
Beneath the sky’s vast dome I long to pray …
Of all the stars there must be far away
A single star which still exists apart.
And I believe that I should know the one
Which has alone endured and which alone
Like a white City that all space commands
At the ray’s end in the high heaven stands.

“Lament” by Rainer Maria Rilke

Summer met me in the glade

Summer met me in the glade,
With a host of fair princesses,
Golden iris, foxgloves staid,
Sunbeams flecked their gorgeous dresses.
Roses followed in her train,
Creamy elder-flowers beset me,
Singing, down the scented lane,
Summer met me!

Summer met me! Harebells rang,
Honeysuckle clustered near,
As the royal pageant sang
Songs enchanting to the ear.
Rainy days may come apace,
Nevermore to grieve or fret me,
Since, in all her radiant grace,
Summer met me!

Summer Met Me by Elizabeth Rebecca Ward

In thee I every glory view

In thee I every glory view,
Of safety, strength, and beauty too;
Beloved Saviour, ever be
A Sanctuary unto me.

Whatever woes and fears betide,
In thy dear bosom let me hide;
And, while I pour my soul to thee,
Do thou my Sanctuary be.

Through life and all its changing scenes,
And all the grief that intervenes,
’Tis this supports my fainting heart,
That thou my Sanctuary art.

from Christ a Sanctuary by Samuel Medly 1738-1799