Fugitive Poetry. 1600–1878/"Rejoice with Them that do Rejoice"

"Rejoice with Them that Do Rejoice."

Romans xii. 15.

Lord, give me freely to rejoice When others' joys I see,E'en though the brightness of their lot Exteudcth not to me.

Give me a heart from envy free, A heart o'erflowed with love,That I may praise for all the joy That cometh from above.

Grant me not only to possess Contentment with my lot,But sympathy and joy with those Who have what I have not.

Grant me to love mankind so dear, That when their good I see,Each blessing, as it lights on them, May fall, a joy, on me!

'Tis good to weep with those who weep, But oft the tears we shedAre selfish, and self-pitying tears, Though dropped o'er others' dead.

But in rejoicing with the glad, The troubles of our lot—Self—with its murmurs and its wants— Must be, in love, forgot.

Then, O my God, let me rejoice When others' joy I see,Even although upon my life The sunlight may not be!