Hymn 272. The Christian’s Prospect

         Happy the soul, whose wishes climb

                     To mansions in the skies!

         He looks on all the joys of Time,

                     With undesiring eyes.

         In vain soft Pleasure spreads her charms,                                                      

                     And throws her silken chain;

         And Wealth and Fame invite his arms,

                     And tempt his ear in vain.

         He knows that all these glittering things

                     Must yield to sure decay;                                                           

         And sees on Time’s extended wings,

                     How swift they fleet away!

         Nor low to earth in sorrow bends,

                     When pains and cares invade;

         With cheerful wing his faith ascends                                                               

                     Above the gloomy shade.

         To things unseen by mortal eyes,

                     A beam of sacred light

         Directs his view, his prospects rise,

                     All permanent and bright.                                                         

         His hopes are fix’d on joys to come;

                     Those blissful scenes on high,

         Shall flourish in immortal bloom,

                     When Time and Nature die.

         O were these heavenly prospects mine,                                               

                     These pleasures could I prove,

         Earth’s fleeting views I would resign,

                     And raise my hopes above.

Text: Timothy Whelan, gen. ed., Nonconformist Women Writers, 8 vols. (London: Pickering & Chatto, 2011), vol. 1, pp. 99-100; Collection of Hymns Adapted to Public Worship, no. 272 (stanzas 1-3, 5-7); Poems, 1780, vol. 1, pp. 97-99; MS, Steele Collection, STE 3/1/1 no. 54 and STE 3/1/4 no. 19, Angus Library, Regents Park College,  Oxford.