Poems (Frances Elizabeth Browne)/On the anniversary of my birthday
ON THE ANNIVERSARY OF MY BIRTHDAY.
God of my life! another year Of that short life is past,And this, for aught that I can tell, May be decreed the last.
As wave is urged on wave, Year after year rolls by,Bearing me onward to the shores Of bright eternity.
Eternity, or wished, Or feared, must come;Beyond earth's narrow bounds Is placed our home.
Whether the golden bowl Unbroken shall remain,Whether the silver cord Its links unsnapped retain,
Till nature yield To time's all-powerful sway,And the tired spirit gently quit The tottering clay,—
Or whether, ere the charms Of life are fled,The fatal shaft of death Lay low my youthful head,—
Is only known to Him Who reigns above,But who extends to all A father's care and love.
Whether the coming year Be doomed to be A year of peace and joy, Or fraught with misery,
I know not, and 't were vain For me to knowWhat portion I 'm assigned, Of joy or woe.
He who the sparrow's fall Deigns to decree,Yet rules the monarch's fate, Will care for me.
He, to whose piercing eye A thousand years are one,—He will appoint my lot And mark my span!
He will appoint?—he has, Ere time began;E'en I was not o'erlooked In Heaven's bright plan.
The meanest child of earth May—must—sustainSome one connecting link In time's great chain.
He in his wisdom planned My course through life;He saw if I should fall Or conquer in the strife.
He knows the soul he formed, He hears each feeble prayerWhich, when to Heaven breathed, Finds entrance there.
He knows the heart he framed, Each feeling ere it rise;He sees each struggling tear, He hears its sighs.
He knows each blessing's worth, He knows each trial's power, Sustaining strength imparts In sorrow's hour.
Through every scene of life His guardian care extends,Nor with this fleeting breath His kindness ends.
For when the fluttering pulse And closing eye,In the last mortal hour, Call man to die,
If in this lower sphere He has performed his part,Fulfilled his Maker's will With single heart,
He bears his spirit hence To realms above,Where it will flourish in the beams Of everlasting love.
In his protecting care May I confide,And all my future life O, may he deign to guide!