TO ARIANA. Is all you do and all you say; Your heart is light and you are gay, Ariana, And now is your life's month of May, Ariana. O, be thus ever glad and fair, Ariana, This life of yours; nor woe, nor care, Nor wicked spirits ever dare Ariana, To give to you a saddened air, Ariana, And your sweet face or heart impair, Ariana. 141 1 HEAVEN. Is the spirit-land in the bending sky, Will its bliss be found in those shining ways, 'Tis not in the paths of the clouded sky, Nor in azure depths unknown to the eye, It is found in the robe of holiness, In the life unstained by sin, In the narrow way of the pure in heart, "The kingdom of God is within." 'Tis found at the holy shrine of prayer, In the peace the world has not given; 'Tis found in the spirit that waits for us there, THE PRESENCE OF GOD IS HEAVEN. CHILDREN IN HEAVEN. "My Lord hath need of these flowerets gay," Where he was once a child." In the broad fields of heaven, Myriads of beauteous spirits, Linked in bright bands celestial, They sing of earth and heaven; Divinest voices rise In thanks and praises unto Him, Who called them to the skies. CHILDREN IN HEAVEN. The golden-haired, the blue-eyed, And folded were within our hearts From all the world's rude strife. The blessings of our bosoms, The flowers springing in our path, They all are there, in heaven, Safe, safe, and sweetly blessed; No cloud of sin can shadow Their bright and holy rest. 145 |