FAREWELL , a long farewell,
Ye pomps and vanities of this false world,
Vain-glorious systems and perverted ways!
Welcome, ye shades serene,
As by some heavenly screen
Shut off from earth and earthlings' empty gaze!
Welcome, true Israel,
Where peace and justice dwell;
Where in low cloister'd cell,
Remote from scenes of pride,
Faith, Hope, and Love may hide;
Where prayer and praise are pealing evermore,
While through the spacious ever-open door,
In distance view'd,
Appear th' eternal hills, glist'ning and golden-hued!
Welcome, thou Church sublime,
Founded from olden time,
Far out upon the world's tempestuous tide;
Which surging all around,
Stirs not the rock profound,
Rooted whereon thou dost from age to age abide!
O place most blest,
Foretaste of Heaven's own rest!
Port where no billow rolls!
True home of human souls!
O Sanctuary rare of all creation,
Worthy of endless praise and admiration!
How oft thy glorious aisles along
Vibrating with ecstatic song,
Lost in Elysian dreams, I glide,
Forgetful of all else beside;
Seeking with Jesus there to meet,
And cast me down before His feet.
How oft amid thy cloisters dim
I seem to walk alone with Him,
Marking His every word and deed,
Of which in Holy Writ we read,
In living colours ever new
Set before th' entrancèd view!
O place most bright,
O'erflooded from the Fount of living Light!
O place most sweet,
For gentlest musings meet,
And whispering with the tread of sainted feet!
O place of pure repose,
Which the world never knows;
Where peace and penitence their joys disclose;
Where whatsoever good was lost before
Is found again, and found for evermore!
All hail, new world of grace,
That fillest up the space
From man to Angel in th' ascent of things!
Hail, sacred palace of the King of kings!
Great mystery from generations hid,
Outdating Egypt's oldest pyramid;
Chantry kept secret since the world began,
In silent darkness seal'd;
But now, according to th' eternal plan,
To Faith reveal'd!
Ah, what a waft divine
Steals from thy inner shrine,
As with hush'd step I draw me near!
Ah, what a gently-breathing calm is here,
Dropping around
Like dew upon the ground,
Soothing the soul with hope, and scattering all her fear!

O, where true peace and rest,
Where an untroubled breast,
Save here with Thee, O Jesu, shall I find?
Here in Thy living Church of ancient days,
Which, all amid the world's quick-shifting maze,
Thou hast on Peter built, a refuge for mankind!
Here are Thy servants found;
Here do Thy praises sound,
Mounting above the world's tumultuous roar;
Here man with angel vies,
And earth with skies,
Thee, Father, Son, and Spirit, to adore!