Poems (Edwards)/The Mercy Seat
THE MERCY SEAT.
The hopes and joys and sweets of earth How faint and few they are,The brightest dream that fills the heart Leaves but a shadow there;Our dearest friends, how soon, alas! "How soon they change or die,"And friendship's glow, how oft it fades Like sunlight from the sky,E'en in our love we may destroy What we too dearly prize,—May blight and break the very heart We more than idolize.
Alas for earth, how vain it is, How false are all things here,The brightest smile that wreaths the lip, Is shadowed with a tear; It matters not who loves us here, It matters not if fameComes with her jewelled hands to weave A garland round our name;And vainly may ambition strive To fill the longing mind,Some aching void within its cells, Our restless spirits find.
There is one place to which the soul For still repose can fly,One only place of refuge found Beneath the azure sky;One place where cares that vex us now Come not to mar our rest,Where thoughts of blasted hopes and joys Flit not across the breast;A place where peace comes o'er the heart Like zephyrs soft and sweet,A place where all on earth may go,— It is the Mercy Seat.