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Of England's Church; stupendous mysteries!
Which, whoso travels in her bosom, eyes,
As he approaches them, with solemn cheer.
Upon that circle traced from sacred story
We only dare to cast a transient glance,
Trusting in hope that others may advance
With mind intent upon the King of Glory,1
From his mild Advent till his Countenance
Shall dissipate the seas and mountains hoary.

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XX.
BAPTISM.

Pub. 1827.

DEAR be the Church, that, watching o'er the needs
Of Infancy, provides a timely shower

Whose virtue changes to a christian Flower

A Growth from sinful Nature's bed of weeds !—3
Fitliest beneath the sacred roof proceeds

The ministration; while parental Love
Looks on, and Grace descendeth from above

As the high service pledges now, now pleads.

There, should vain thoughts outspread their wings and fly To meet the coming hours of festal mirth,

The tombs

which hear and answer that brief cry,

The Infant's notice of his second birth—

Recal the wandering Soul to sympathy

With what man hopes from Heaven, yet fears from Earth.

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Enough for us to cast a transient glance

The circle through; relinquishing its story

For those whom Heaven hath fitted to advance

And, harp in hand, rehearse the King of Glory- 1822.

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CATECHISING.

87

XXI.

SPONSORS.

Pub. 1832.

FATHER! to God himself we cannot give
A holier name! then lightly do not bear
Both names conjoined, but of thy spiritual care
Be duly mindful: still more sensitive
Do thou, in truth a second Mother, strive
Against disheartening custom, that by thee
Watched, and with love and pious industry
Tended at need, the adopted Plant may thrive
For everlasting bloom. Benign and pure
This Ordinance, whether loss it would supply,
Prevent omission, help deficiency,

Or seek to make assurance doubly sure.
Shame if the consecrated Vow be found
An idle form, the Word an empty sound!

XXII.

CATECHISING.

FROM little down to least, in due degree,
Around the Pastor, each in new-wrought vest,
Each with a vernal posy at his breast,
We stood, a trembling, earnest Company!
With low soft murmur, like a distant bee,

Some spake, by thought-perplexing fears betrayed;
And some a bold unerring answer made:
How fluttered then thy anxious heart for me,
Beloved Mother! Thou whose happy hand
Had bound the flowers I wore, with faithful tie:

88

CONFIRMATION.

Sweet flowers! at whose inaudible command
Her countenance, phantom-like, doth re-appear:
O lost too early for the frequent tear,
And ill requited by this heartfelt sigh!

XXIII.

CONFIRMATION.

Pub. 1827.

THE Young-ones gathered in from hill and dale,
With holiday delight on every brow:

'Tis passed away; far other thoughts prevail;
For they are taking the baptismal Vow

Upon their conscious selves; their own lips speak Strongest sinews fail,

The solemn promise.

And many a blooming, many a lovely, cheek
Under the holy fear of God turns pale;
While on each head his lawn-robed Servant lays
An apostolic hand, and with prayer seals
The Covenant. The Omnipotent will raise
Their feeble Souls; and bear with his regrets,
Who, looking round the fair assemblage, feels
That ere the Sun goes down their childhood sets.

XXIV.

CONFIRMATION CONTINUED.

I SAW a Mother's eye intensely bent
Upon a Maiden trembling as she knelt;
In and for whom the pious Mother felt
Things that we judge of by a light too faint:
Tell, if ye may, some star-crowned Muse, or Saint!
Tell what rushed in, from what she was relieved,
Then, when her Child the hallowing touch received,

SACRAMENT.

And such vibration through1 the Mother went
That tears burst forth amain. Did gleams appear?
Opened a vision of that blissful place

Where dwells a Sister-child? And was power given
Part of her lost One's glory back to trace

Even to this Rite? For thus She knelt, and, ere
The summer-leaf had faded, passed to Heaven.*

89

XXV.

SACRAMENT.

Pub. 1827.

By chain yet stronger must the Soul be tied:
One duty more, last stage of this ascent,2
Brings to thy food, mysterious Sacrament3
The Offspring, haply at the Parent's side;
But not till They, with all that do abide
In Heaven, have lifted up their hearts to laud
And magnify the glorious name of God,
Fountain of grace, whose Son for sinners died.
Ye, who have duly weighed the summons, pause
No longer; ye, whom to the saving rite

The Altar calls; come early under laws

That can secure for you a path of light

Through gloomiest shade; put on (nor dread its weight) Armour divine, and conquer in your cause!

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Compare the tribute to a Daughter, who died within the year after her confirmation, in A Presbyterian Clergyman looking for the Church, by Rev. Flavel S. Mines, p. 95.-ED.

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THE Vested Priest before the Altar stands;
Approach, come gladly, ye prepared, in sight
Of God and chosen friends, your troth to plight
With the symbolic ring, and willing hands
Solemnly joined. Now sanctify the bands,
O Father to the espoused thy blessing give,
!
That mutually assisted they may live

Obedient, as here taught, to thy commands.
So prays the Church, to consecrate a Vow
"The which would endless matrimony make;"
Union that shadows forth and doth partake
A mystery potent human love to endow

With heavenly, each more prized for the other's sake;
Weep not, meek Bride! uplift thy timid brow.

XXVII.

THANKSGIVING AFTER CHILDBIRTH.

Comp. 1842.

Pub. 1845.

WOMAN! the Power who left his throne on high,
And deigned to wear the robe of flesh we wear,

In a letter to Professor Henry Reed, dated 'Rydal Mount, Sept. 4, 1842,' Wordsworth says: "A few days ago, after a very long interval, I returned to poetical composition; and my first employment was to write a couple of Sonnets upon subjects recommended by you to take place in the Ecclesiastical Series. They are upon the Marriage Ceremony and the Funeral Service. I have, about the same time, added two others, both upon subjects taken from the Services of our Liturgy.”—ED.

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