The Christian's Book of Gems, Poetry

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated.1840 Excerpt: ... And the pearl gleams forth from the coral strand, Is it there, sweet mother, that better land? Not there, not there, my child. Eye hath not seen it, my gentle boy, Ear hath not heard its deep songs of joy, Dreams cannot picture a world so fair, Sorrow and death may not enter there, Time doth not breathe on its faultless bloom, For beyond the clouds and beyond the tomb, It is there, it is there, my child. THERE IS A FRIEND WHICH STICKETH CLOSER THAN A BROTHER. aSartou. Though sunless, moonless, starless seem Each sufferer's lonely state, There is a light, whose cheering beam Its gloom can dissipate: It comes with healing on its wings, And heavenly radiance round it flings! It rises on the darken'd mind With lustre brighter far Than that to outward orb assign'd, Of sun, or moon, or star; And matchless in its mild control Over the desolate in soul. There is a Friend more tender, true, Than brother e'er can be; Who, when all others bid adieu, Remains--the last to flee; Who, be their pathway bright or dim, Deserts not those who turn to Him, The heart by Him sustain'd, though deep Its anguish, still can bear; The soul he condescends to keep, Shall never know despair; In nature's weakness, sorrow's night, God is its strength, its joy, its light. He is the Friend who changeth not, In sickness or in health; Whether on earth our transient lot Be poverty or wealth; In joy or grief, contempt or fame, To all who seek Him, still the same! Of human hearts he holds the key; Is friendship meet for ours? Oh! be assured that none but he Unlocks its purest powers; He can recall the lost, the dead, Or give us dearer in their stead. Of earthly friends, who finds them true, May boast a happy lot; But happier still, life's journey through, Is he who needs them not: A heavenly Frie...