With throbbing heart and tearful eye
I watched the spring-time fleeting by.
I saw the snowdrop at its birth
Felled, by spears of rain, to earth;
The iris burst her emerald sheath,
And shew the amethyst beneath;
The painted tulip fade and close
Before the glory of the rose;
And now, down fields of sunburnt grass
I see the withering rose-leaves pass;
And, night by night, and day by day,
The life of summer ebbs away,
I see the granaries overflow,
The mellowing orchards bending low,
God! my heart in awe and fear
Looks back upon thy perfect year.
Thy bounty covers all the lands;
I lift in prayer my empty hands.
Of all the summer of my life
My harvest is but sin and strife.
Oh! could these tears, like April rain,
Make moist my heart's hard soil again,
And stir the seeds which Thou didst sow,
Oh! never should they cease to flow.
Could prayer but melt this ice away,
Oh! never would I cease to pray,
Till thou in mercy, Lord, didst bring
Into my soul a second spring.
Oh! then what rich reward and sweet
To lay its harvest at Thy feet!