William Baxter Be Holy (1842)

 

T H E   L A D I E S '   R E P O S I T O R Y .
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CINCINNATI, SEPTEMBER, 1842.

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O r i g i n a l .
B E   H O L Y .
BE holy! let thy life proclaim
Thy Master's character divine:
Let ev'ry word and action prove
The virtues which he taught are thine.
Be holy! humble all thy pride,
And choose the Savior for thy guide.
Be holy! let each thought to him
In sweet subjection humbly bow--
Let passion bend at his command,
And all thy life his praises show--
Show that to man on earth is giv'n
An earnest of the joys of heav'n.
Be holy! 'tis thus man may rise
To heights of bliss as yet unknown--
Rise to angelic joys, and find
A seat near the eternal throne.
Be holy! and you shall receive
All that the Father has to give.
Be holy! 'tis the passport through
The radiant portals of the sky.
It on the soul shall then impress
The stamp of immortality.
Be holy! that will raise the clod
To an alliance with its God.
Be holy! let the soul assume
The perfect likeness of its sire--
Cast off its dross, and join the songs
Which flow from the celestial choir.
Be holy! and exultant spring
To heav'n on hope's untiring wing.
Be holy! and the dying strife
Shall lose its terrors, and the eye
Of faith shall gaze undazzled on
Thy great reward, above the sky.
Be holy! be for ever blest!
Thus seek, thus find eternal rest.
WM. BAXTER.

 

[The Ladies' Repository 2 (September 1842): 277.]

ABOUT THE ELECTRONIC EDITION

      William Baxter's "Be Holy" was first published in The Ladies' Repository, and Gatherings of the West: A Monthly Periodical Devoted to Literature and Religion, Vol. 2, No. 9, September 1842, p. 277. This volume, edited by L. L. Hamline, was published in Cincinnati by J. F. Wright and L. Swormstedt for the Methodist Episcopal Church. The poem was reprinted in The Millennial Harbinger, Third Series, Vol. 7, No. 6, June 1850, p. 360.

      Addenda and corrigenda are earnestly solicited.

Ernie Stefanik
Derry, PA

Created 30 March 2000.
Updated 28 June 2003.

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