OH! if there is one law above the rest,
Written in Wisdom--if there is a word
That I would trace as with a pen of fire
Upon the unsullied temper of a child--
If there is anything that keeps the mind
Open to angel visits, and repels
The ministry of ill--_'tis Human Love!_
God has made nothing worthy of contempt;
The smallest pebble in the well of Truth
Has its peculiar meanings, and will stand
When man's best monuments wear fast away.
The law of Heaven is _Love_--and though its name
Has been usurped by passion, and profaned
To its unholy uses through all time,
Still, the external principle is pure;
And in these deep affections that we feel
Omnipotent within us, can we see
The lavish measure in which love is given.
And in the yearning tenderness of a child
For every bird that sings above its head,
And every creature feeding on the hills,
And every tree and flower, and running brook,
We see how everything was made to love,
And how they err, who, in a world like this,
Find anything to hate but human pride.
“EVERY LITTLE HELPS.”
WHAT if a drop of rain should plead--
“So small a drop as I
Can ne'er refresh the thirsty mead;
I'll tarry in the sky?”
What, if the shining beam of noon
Should in its fountain stay;
Because its feeble light alone
Cannot create a day?
Does not each rain-drop help to form
The cool refreshing shower?
And every ray of light, to warm
And beautify the flower?