2 But soon canst thou in righteous wrath
Blast all the promis'd joy,
And elements await thy nod
To bless or to destroy.

3 The sun, thy minister of love,
That from the naked ground
Calls forth the hidden seeds to birth,
And spreads their beauties round;

4 At the dread order of his God
Now darts destructive fires;

Hills, plains and vales are parch'd with drought,

And blooming life expires.

5 Like burnish'd brass, the heaven around In angry terror burns,

While the earth lies a joyless waste,

And into iron turns.

6 Pity us, Lord, in our distress,
Nor with our land contend;
Bid the avenging skies relent,
And showers of mercy send.

CCCLXXXVII. C. M. RIP. SEL.
On a year of threatening Rain.

1 HOW

OW hast thou, Lord, from year to year,
Our land with plenty crown'd!

And generous fruit, and golden grain

Have spread their riches round.

2 But we thy mercies have abus'd
To more abounding crimes;
What heights, what daring heights in sin,
Mark and disgrace our times!.

3 Equal, though awful is the doom,

That fierce descending rain

Should into inundations swell,
And crush the rising grain!

4 How just that when rich autumn's store
We hop'd with joy to reap,
Our fields of sorrow and despair
Should lie an hideous heap!

5 But, Lord, have mercy on our land,
These floods of vengeance stay;
Dispel these glooms, and let the sun
Shine in unclouded day.

6 To thee alone we look for help;
None else of dew or rain

Can give the world the smallest drop,
Or smallest drop restrain.

CCCLXXXVIII. L. M. WATTS's Lyric
Poems.

The God of Thunder.

THE immense, th' amazing height,
The boundless grandeur of our God,
Who treads the worlds beneath his feet,
And sways the nations with his nod!
2 He speaks; and lo, all nature shakes,
Heaven's everlasting pillars bow,

He rends the clouds with hideous cracks,
And shoots his fiery arrows through.

3 Well, let the nations start and fly

At the blue lightning's horrid glare,
Atheists and emperors shrink and die,
When flame and noise torment the air.

4 Let noise and flame confound the skies,
And drown the spacious realms below,
Yet will we sing the Thunderer's praise,
And send our loud hosannas through.

5 Celestial King, thy blazing power
Kindles our hearts to flaming joys,
We shout to hear thy thunders roar,
And echo to our Father's voice.

6 Thus shall the God our Saviour come,
And lightnings round his chariot play,
Ye lightnings, fly to make him room,
Ye glorious storins, prepare his way.

CCCLXXXIX. C. M. BALT. COL.

W

Thunder.

HENE'ER a black o'erspreading cloud
Has darken'd all the air;

And peals of thunder roaring loud,

Proclaim the tempest near

2 Then guilt and fear, the fruits of sin, '
The sinner oft pursue;

A louder storm is heard within,
And conscience thunders too.
The law a fiery language speaks,
His danger he perceives;
Like Satan who his ruin seeks,
He trembles and believes.

4 But when the sky serene appears,
And thunders roll no more;
He soon forgets his vows and fears,
Just as he did before.

5 But whither shall the sinner flee
When nature's mighty frame,
The pond'rous earth, and air, and sca,
Shall all dissolve in flame.

6 Amazing day! it comes apace.
The judge is hast'ning down!

Will sinners bear to see his face,
Or stand before his frown.

7 Lord, let thy mercy find a way
To touch each stubborn heart;
That they may never hear thee say,
"Ye cursed ones depart."

8 Believers you may well rejoice;
The thunder's loudest strains
Should be to you a welcome voice,
That tells you," Jesus reigns!"

CCCXC. C. M. RIP. SEL.

Summer-an Harvest Hymn.

To praise the ever bounteous Lord,
My soul, wake all thy powers:
He calls, and at his voice come forth
The smiling harvest hours.

2 His covenant with the earth he keeps;
My tongue his goodness sing;
Summer and winter know their time,
His harvest crowns the spring.

3 Well pleas'd the husbandmen behold The waving yellow crop :

With joy they bear the sheaves away,
And sow again in hope.

4 Thus teach me, gracious God, to sow
The seeds of righteousness:
Smile on my soul, and with thy beams
The ripening harvest bless.

5 Then, in the last great harvest, I
Shall reap a glorious crop :

The harvest shall by far exceed
What I have sow'd in hope.

STER

TERN winter throws his icy chains,
Encircling nature round:

How bleak, how comfortless the plains,
Late with gay verdure crown'd!

2 The sun withdraws his vital beams,
And light and warmth depart;
And drooping, lifeless nature seems
An emblem of my heart.

3 My heart, where mental winter reigns
In night's dark mantle clad,
Confin'd in cold inactive chains,
How desolate and sad!

4 Return, O blissful Sun, and bring
Thy soul reviving ray;

This mental winter shall be spring,
This darkness cheerful day,

5 O happy state, divine abode,

Where spring eternal reigns;
And perfect day, the smile of God,
Fills all the heavenly plains.

6 Great Source of light, thy beams display,
My drooping joys restore,
And guide me to the realms of day,
Where winter frowns no more.

1

CCCXCII. L. M. NEWTON.

Winter.

SEE, how rude winter's icy hand

Has strip'd the trees and seal'd the

ground,

Bb