William Baxter Seasons for Prayer (1844)

 

T H E   L A D I E S '   R E P O S I T O R Y .
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CINCINNATI, AUGUST, 1844.

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O r i g i n a l .
S E A S O N S   F O R   P R A Y E R .
BY WILLIAM BAXTER.
        PRAY, when the rosy light
            First gilds the eastern skies;
        And thus begin the day
            With purest sacrifice;
For God will be well pleas'd to hear,
And thou shalt feel his presence near.

        All nature teaches this--
            The dews which night hath giv'n,
        Soon as they see the sun,
            They upward fly to heaven;
And birds, awaking from each bough,
Pour forth their sweetest carols now.

        Then, like the dew and song,
            Which spring away to heav'n,
        Thus let thy early vows
            With thankfulness be giv'n;
And thus, with ev'ry opening day,
To heaven thy grateful homage pay.

        Pray, when the shades of night
            Are gath'ring thick around;
        For whereso'er thou kneel'st,
            Shall then seem holy ground:
And as the sun then sinks to rest,
So may the passions in thy breast.

        Pray, that watchful eye
            That never knows to sleep,
        Around thee ever may
            Its wakeful vigils keep:
Thus, Christian, speed along thy way,
And close with fervent prayer each day.

        Pray on, O, ever pray,
            For time is fleeting fast,
        And soon this earthly scene
            Will be for ever past:
Then pray'r shall cease, and thou shalt raise
In heaven thy ceaseless song of praise.

 

[The Ladies' Repository 4 (August 1844): 245.]

ABOUT THE ELECTRONIC EDITION

      William Baxter's "Seasons for Prayer" was first published in The Ladies' Repository, and Gatherings of the West: A Monthly Periodical Devoted to Literature and Religion, Vol. 4, No. 8, August 1844, p. 245. This volume, edited by E. Thomson, was published in Cincinnati by L. Swormstedt and J. T. Mitchell for the Methodist Episcopal Church. Another poem with the same title was published later in The Millennial Harbinger, Third Series, Vol. 6, No. 1, January 1849, p. 45, and reprinted in The The Ladies' Repository, Vol. 28, No. 8 (New Series, Vol. 2, No. 2), August 1868, p. 142.

      Addenda and corrigenda are earnestly solicited.

Ernie Stefanik
Derry, PA

Created 5 April 2000.
Updated 28 June 2003.

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