Contents -BIBLIOGRAPHIC RECORD

Alfred H. Miles, ed. The Sacred Poets of the Nineteenth Century. 1907.

By Songs of Day and Night. II. The Everlasting Arms Underneath

Alexander B. Grosart (1835–1899)

THE CHILD, that to his mother clings,

Lies not all safely on her breast,

Till she her arms around him flings,

Sweetly caressing and caressed;

Ev’n so, my God, Thy mighty arms,

Not my poor FAITH, shield me from harms.

I bless Thy Name for every grace,

Wherewith Thou dost enrich Thine own;

Yea, I would seek each day to trace

Myself more like my Master grown;

Yet, O my God, Thy mighty arms,

Not my faint LOVE, shield me from harms.

I walk along this sin-scarr’d Earth,

In brightness now and now in dole;

Now all “cast down” and now in mirth;

Now griefs, now joys, possess my soul;

But, O my God, Thy mighty arms,

Not my dim HOPE, shield me from harms.

Within, amidst the world’s unrest,

Thou, Lord! the calming word hast given;

Thy peace abides, howe’er I’m press’d;

And yields an antepast of Heaven:

But, O my God, Thy mighty arms,

Not my own PEACE, shield me from harms.

My mouth Thou fillest with “sweet songs”;

Makest my feet run in “the WAY”;

Giv’st me the joy to Thine belongs;

Nor scarcely ever sayest me nay:

But, O my God, Thy mighty arms,

Not my scant JOY, shield me from harms.

The child, that to his mother clings,

Lies not all safely on her breast,

Till she her arms around him flings,

Sweetly caressing and caressed:

Ev’n so, my God, Thy mighty arms,

Not aught of mine, shield me from harms.