Our hopes in disappointment end.
VI
Then let us trust the Lord alone,
And creature-confidence disown:
Nor if they threaten need we fear,
They cannot hurt if he be near.
VII
If instruments of pain they prove,
Still they are guided by his love;
As lancets by the surgeon’s skill,
Which wound to cure, and not to kill.
98
On Dreaming
By Newton
I
When slumber seals our weary eyes,
The busy fancy wakeful keeps;
The scenes which then before us rise
Prove something in us never sleeps.
II
As in another world we seem,
A new creation of our own;
All appears real, though but a dream,
And all familiar, though unknown.
III
Sometimes, the mind beholds again
The past day’s business in review—
Resumes the pleasure or the pain,
And sometimes all we meet is new.
IV
What schemes we form, what pains we take!
We fight, we run, we fly, we fall;
But all is ended when we wake,
We scarcely then a trace recall.
V
But though our dreams are often wild,
Like clouds before the driving storm;
Yet some important may be styled,
Sent to admonish or inform.
VI
What mighty agents have access,
What friends from heaven, or foes from hell,
Our minds to comfort or distress,
When we are sleeping, who can tell?
VII
One thing, at least, and ’tis enough,
We learn from this surprising fact—
Our dreams afford sufficient proof,
The soul without the flesh can act.
VIII
This life, which mortals so esteem,
That many choose it for their all,
They will confess, was but a dream,
When waken’d by death’s awful call.
99
The World
By Newton
I
See, the world for youth prepares,
Harlot-like, her gaudy snares!
Pleasures round her seem to wait,
But ’tis all a painted cheat.
II
Rash and unsuspecting youth
Thinks to find thee always smooth,
Always kind, till better taught,
By experience dearly bought.
III
So the calm but faithless sea,
(Lively emblem, world, of thee,)
Tempts the shepherd from the shore,
Foreign regions to explore.
IV
While no wrinkled wave is seen,
While the sky remains serene,
Fill’d with hopes and golden schemes.
Of a storm he little dreams.
V
By ere long the tempest raves,
Then he trembles at the waves,
Wishes then he had been wise,
But too late—he sinks and dies.
VI
Hapless, thus, are they, vain world,
Soon on rocks of ruin hurl’d,
Who, admiring thee untried,
Court thy pleasure, wealth, or pride.
VII
Such a shipwreck had been mine.
Had not Jesus (name divine!)
Saved me with a mighty hand,
And restored my soul to land.
VIII
Now, with gratitude I raise
Ebenezers to his praise;
Now my rash pursuits are o’er,
I can trust thee, world, no more.
100
The Enchantment Dissolved
By Newton
I
Blinded in youth by Satan’s arts,
The world to our unpractised hearts
A flatt’ring prospect shows;
Our fancy forms a thousand schemes
Of gay delights, and golden dreams.
And undisturb’d repose.
II
So in the desert’s dreary waste,
By magic power produced in haste,
(As ancient fables say,)
Castles and groves and music sweet,
The senses of the trav’ler meet,
And stop him in his way.
III
But while he listens with surprise,
The charm dissolves, the vision dies—
’Twas but enchanted ground.
Thus if the Lord our spirit touch,
The world, which promised us so much,
A wilderness is found.
IV
At first we start and feel distress’d,
Convinced we never can have rest
In such a wretched place;
But he whose mercy breaks the charm,
Reveals his own almighty arm,
And bids us seek his face.
V
Then we begin to live indeed,
When from our sin and bondage freed
By this beloved Friend:
We follow him from day to day,
Assured of grace through all the way,
And glory at the end.
Book III
On the Rise, Progress, Changes, and Comforts of the Spiritual Life
I
Solemn Addresses to Sinners
1
Expostulation
By Newton
I
No words can declare,
No fancy can paint,
What rage and despair,
What hopeless complaint,
Fill Satan’s dark dwelling,
The prison beneath—
What weeping and yelling
And gnashing of teeth!
II
Yet sinners will choose
This dreadful abode!
Each madly pursues
The dangerous road;
Though God give them warning,
They onward will go,
They answer with scorning,
And rush upon woe.
III
How sad to behold
The rich and the poor,
The young and the old,
All blindly secure!
All posting to ruin,
Refusing to stop.
Ah! think what you’re doing,
While yet there is hope!
IV
How weak is your hand
To fight with the Lord!
How can you withstand
The edge of his sword?
What hope of escaping
For those who oppose,
When hell is wide gaping
To swallow his foes?
V
How oft have you dared
The Lord to his face!
Yet still you are spared
To hear of his grace.
O pray for repentance
And life-giving faith
Before the just sentence
Consign you to death.
VI
It is not too late
To Jesus to flee;
His mercy is great,
His pardon is free!
His blood has such virtue
For all that believe
That nothing can hurt you
If him you receive.
2
Alarm
By Newton
I
Stop, poor sinner! stop and think,
Before you farther go!
Will you sport upon the brink
Of everlasting woe?
Once again I charge you, stop;
For unless you warning take,
Ere you are aware you drop
Into the burning lake.
II
Say, have you an arm like God,
That you his will oppose?
Fear you not that iron rod
With which he breaks his foes?
Can you stand in that dread day
When he judgment shall proclaim,
And the earth shall melt away
Like wax before the flame?
III
Pale-faced death will quickly come
To drag you to his bar;
Then to hear your awful doom
Will fill you with despair:
All your sins will round you crowd,
Sins of a blood-crimson dye;
Each for vengeance crying loud,
And what can you reply?
IV
Though your heart be made of steel,
Your forehead lined with brass,
God at length will make you feel
He will not let you pass:
Sinners then in vain will call,
(Though they now despise his grace)
Rocks and mountains, on us fall,
And hide us from his face!
V
But as yet there is a hope
You may his mercy
