Poems (Rice)/After a Sermon by the Pastor of St. Mark's Church
AFTER A SERMONBY THE PASTOR OF SAINT MARK'S CHURCH.
"For it is appointed unto man once to die."
BUT once! this the appointed time For fallen man to die; But once! how solemn, how sublime! Think of thy destiny; Think how thy pastor pleads to-day That all thy sins be washed away, Meet for those realms on high.
Another day, alas, too late! How startling, yet how true The picture of our doom, our fate, His loved apostle drew; How high his mission, and how grand, This young ambassador, to stand, His Master's way pursue;
To mark the course, to paint the way, All troubled hearts to show Their sorrows, where their burdens lay While wandering below; Where those sweet waters may be found, Where peace, where love, where joy abound, From whence those streamlets flow.
To analyze with science, skill, With such a holy art, To bend, to break the stubborn will, Then healing balm impart; And genius' sacred lore combine With gifts to sanctify divine The unregenerate heart.
This, this a glorious work indeed; Then wherefore longer wait, Repeating psalter, psalm, or creed, Before Jehovah's gate? But once to die, with fear I own, With trembling, Father, now atone For sins too heavy, great.
Resist, ah never, such appeal Presented with such care, With pathos and with fervor, zeal, Those Bible truths so rare; A sermon perfect, part and whole, To search the heart, to reach the soul, Its seeds must flourish there.