Fisher Ames born 1758.
John Opie died 1807.
Dante Gabriel Rossetti died 1882.
Gather a shell from the strown beach
And listen at its lips; they sigh
The same desire and mystery,
The echo of the whole sea's speech.
And all mankind is this at heart--
Not anything but what thou art:
And Earth, Sea, Man are all in each.
--Dante Gabriel Rossetti.
And as, in sparkling majesty, a star
Gilds the bright summit of some glory cloud;
Brightening the half-veil'd face of heaven afar;
So when dark thoughts my boding spirit shroud,
Sweet Hope! celestial influence round me shed,
Waving the silver pinions o'er my head.
--John Keats.
Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing,
that ye may abound in hope, in the power of the Holy Spirit.
--Romans 15. 13.
Almighty God, may I ever know the generous glow that comes with an
overwhelming desire to cultivate the soul. With hope may I find the
way through the darkness that leads to immortality, even if I may have
to experience the weariness that may accompany it. Amen.