Joy! Joy! Infinite joy!
Wild as the fire in the heart of a boy;
Clean as the soul of the laughing breeze;
Pure as the heart of the dryad trees!

The sky is mine, the earth is mine,
The air and the sea and all that is;
But when I shall pass I shall walk divine
In ways more starry fair than this!

I say I have lived in a joyous world;
Where every loving dream comes true;
With comfort and plenty around me curled;
Where every moment is fresh and new.

It's great!—this life on the hills of Time,—
To follow the gleam and still endure,

Precious thought, my Father knoweth,
In His love I rest;
For whate'er my Father doeth
Must be always best.
Well I know the heart that planneth,
Nought but good for me;
Joy and sorrow interwoven;
Love in all I see.

Precious thought, my Father knoweth,
Careth for His child;
Bids me nestle closer to Him
When the storm beats wild.
Tho' my earthly hopes are shattered,
And the tear drops fall,
Yet He is Himself my solace,
Yea, my Friend, my all.

Oh, to trust Him then more fully,
Just to simply move
In the conscious, calm enjoyment

Kindle your glimmering lamp in the infinite space, O Love!
Let the dark shadows dance in the burning depths of mine eyes.
I am athirst for one glimpse of your beautiful face, O Love!
Veiled in the mystical silence of stars and the purple of skies.

Thrill me with radiant rapture, O Love! of your ravishing flute,
Folding my silence in song, and my sorrow in silver eclipse,
Shaping my heart into flower, and the flower of my heart into fruit
Meet for your orchards of light, and touch of your luminous lips.

Lo, where the bird at rest
Twitters in careless ease upon her nest!
Throughout all storm wherewith the loud tree swings
Broods in the skyflier's breast the pride of wings.

Though soft leaves interlace,
Making a hiding-place,
The sheltered life within does not forget
How strong she is, how free, by Nature's right;
Though nest and foliage fall, her refuge yet
Remains, the boundless heaven's unpillared height!

So with the bridegroom in my soul to-day,
Rejoicing, free, a lover's mask I play.
But well the Spirit of Love within me knows

Happy , art thou, darling insect,
Who, upon the trees' tall branches,
By a modest draught inspired,
Singing, like a monarch livest!
Thou possessest as thy portion
All that on the plains thou seëst,
All that by the hours is brought thee;
'Mongst the husbandmen thou livest,
As a friend, uninjured by them,
Thou whom mortals love to honour,
Herald sweet of sweet Spring's advent!
Yes, thou'rt loved by all the Muses,
Phœbus' self, too, needs must love thee;
They their silver voices gave thee,
Age can neversteal upon the.

'Tis heaven begun below
To hear Christ's praises flow,
In Zion, where his name is known;
What will it be above
To sing redeeming love,
And cast our crowns before his throne?

When we adore him there
We shall be void of fear,
For faith, nor hope, nor patience, need;
Love will absorb us quite,
Love, in the midst of light,
In God's eternal love shall feed.

Oh! what sweet company
We then shall hear and see,
What harmony will there abound,
When souls unnumber'd sing
The praise of Zion's King,

One lovely name adorns my song,
And, dwelling in the heart,
For ever falters at the tongue,
And trembles to depart.

True love is such a sweet and sacred thing!
When I am with the One who understands,
I need not touch her lips nor clasp her hands,
Just to be near her makes my glad heart sing—
True love is such a sweet and sacred thing!

True love is such a sweet and sacred thing
That sometimes, when I cannot have a word,
I feel as though her tenderness I heard,
A full communion that the thought may bring—
True love is such a sweet and sacred thing!

True love is such a sweet and sacred thing
That often when my ardent spirit stirs

When shall I find you, sweetheart,
That shall be and must be mine?
I seek, though the world divides us,
And I send you the secret sign.

There 's blood in the veins of morning,
So fresh it may well deceive,
When man goes forth as Adam,
And woman awaits him as Eve.

There 's an elvish spell in twilight
When the bats of Fancy fly,
And sense is bound by a question,
And Fate by the quick reply.

And the moon is an old enchantress,
With her snares of glimmer and shade,
That have ever been false and fatal

I can forget so much at will:
That first walk in the snow,
The violet bed on the wet spring hill,
The song we both loved so;

Even the rapture of love's magic hour,
Even the anguish of love's disdain,
—But never, but never, the little white flower
We found one day in the rain.