Christ the Christian's Life

I. O for the animating fire
That tun'd harmonious Watt's lyre,
To sweet seraphic strains!
Celestial fire, that bore his mind
(Earth's vain allurements left behind)
To yonder blissful plains.

II. There, Jesus lives, (transporting name!)
Jesus inspir'd the sacred flame,
And gave devotion wings;
With heav'n-attracted flight she soar'd,
The realms of happiness explor'd,
And smil'd, and pity'd kings.

III. Come sacred flame, and warm my heart,
Thy animating pow'r impart,
Sweet dawn of life divine!
Jesus, thy love alone can give
The pow'r to rise, the pow'r to live;
Eternal life is thine.

IV. If in my heart, thy heav'nly day
Has e'er diffus'd its vital ray,
I bless the smiling dawn;
But oh, when gloomy clouds arise,
And veil thy glory from mine eyes,
I mourn my joys withdrawn.

V. Then, faith, and hope, and love decay;
Without thy life-inspiring ray,
Each chearful grace declines;
Yet, I must live on thee, my Lord
For still in thy unchanging word
A beam of comfort shines.

VI. The vital principle within,
Though oft depress'd with fear and sin,
Can never cease to be;
Though doubt prevails, and grief complains,
Thy hand omnipotent, sustains
The life deriv'd from thee.

VII. O come, thou life of ev'ry grace,
Reveal, reveal thy lovely face,
[p.111] These gloomy clouds remove!
And bid my fainting hope arise
To thy fair mansions in the skies,
On wings of faith and love.

VIII. There, life divine no langour knows,
But with immortal vigor glows,
By joys immortal fed:
No cloud can spread a moments night
For there, thy smiles immense delight
And boundless glory shed.

Source: Poems on Subjects Chiefly Devotional, Vol. 2 #109