A S on the world I gaze with fearful eye,
And mark the vast expanse to wander through,
My full heart heaves with many a deep drawn sigh,
And almost trembles at the awful view.
Where lies my path amid this wondrous waste,
Hung with dark clouds, or circled with serene?
What is the bourne to which I daily haste?
What the dread changes of the future scene?
Lost in the mists of dark futurity,
For ever hid from my unbidden gaze
They rest, Almighty One! — they rest with Thee:
Wise and inscrutable are all thy ways.
The humble creature thou hast deign'd to make
Here also rests. Thy mercies I have prov'd;
Deep in this heart a holy trust they wake,
To bid me bear the ills of life unmov'd. —
Vain terrors, peace! — Go, spirit, mail'd in worth
Hallow'd, not injur'd, by the trials given;
And look upon the varied woes of earth
But as the pains which purify for heaven.

A S on the world I gaze with fearful eye,
And mark the vast expanse to wander through,
My full heart heaves with many a deep drawn sigh,
And almost trembles at the awful view.
Where lies my path amid this wondrous waste,
Hung with dark clouds, or circled with serene?
What is the bourne to which I daily haste?
What the dread changes of the future scene?
Lost in the mists of dark futurity,
For ever hid from my unbidden gaze
They rest, Almighty One! — they rest with Thee:
Wise and inscrutable are all thy ways.
The humble creature thou hast deign'd to make
Here also rests. Thy mercies I have prov'd;
Deep in this heart a holy trust they wake,
To bid me bear the ills of life unmov'd. —
Vain terrors, peace! — Go, spirit, mail'd in worth
Hallow'd, not injur'd, by the trials given;
And look upon the varied woes of earth
But as the pains which purify for heaven.