Poems (Follen)/The Ninetieth Psalm

by Eliza Lee Cabot Follen

THE NINETIETH PSALM.

O Lord! before the mountains' birth,
 Ere suns and stars obeyed thy nod,
Or ever thou hadst formed the earth,
 From everlasting, thou art God.

Thou sayest to man, Return to dust!
 Quickly he droops away in death;
For youth, and strength, and wisdom must,
 At thy command, resign their breath.

For, in thine all-eternal sight,
 A thousand long, revolving years
Seems like a silent watch of night,
 Or like a yesterday appears.

With thee, like rolling waves they pass;
 Or like the morning's winged dream,
Or like the tender, springing grass
 That sparkles in its dewy beam.

Exulting in its glittering crown,
 It swiftly grows, and blossoms fair;
But in the evening is cut down,
 And withers in the chilling air.

So teach us, Lord, to count our days,
 And thus life's certain end to see,
That we may walk in wisdom's ways,
 And rise from death to live with thee.