The Hope of the Disconsolate

When gathering clouds around I view,

And days are dark and friends are few,

On him I lean who, not in vain,

Experienced every human pain;

He sees my wants, allays my fears,

And counts and treasures up my tears.

If aught should tempt my soul to stray

From heavenly virtue’s narrow way,

To flee the good I would pursue,

Or do the sin I would not do,--

Still he who felt temptation’s power,

Shall guard me in that dangerous hour.

When vexing thoughts within me rise,

And sore dismayed my spirit dies,

Yet he who once vouchsafed to bear

The sickening anguish of despair

Shall sweetly soothe, shall gently dry,

The throbbing heart, the streaming eye.

When sorrowing o’er some stone I bend,

Which covers all that was a friend,

And from his voice, his hand, his smile,

Divides me for a little while,

Thou, Savior, seest the tears I shed,

For thou didst weep o’er Lazarus dead.

And oh when I have safely passed

Through every conflict but the last,

Still, still unchanging, watch beside

My painful bed, for thou has died;

Then point to realms of cloudless day,

And wipe the latest tear away.