Immortal spirit! wake, arise!
Think of thy home beyond the skies;
Think of the work thou hast to do;
Think of the heavenly prize in view.
Shall thy poor tenement of clay
Curtail thy flight, obstruct thy way?
And shall the free and heaven-born soul
Yield to the body’s base control?
Oh, thoughtless slumberer, wake, arise!
To God, to heaven, lift up thine eyes;
Eternity’s vast ocean see,
And but a step ’twixt it and thee.
A clear, unerring chart is given
To guide the traveller’s feet to heaven;
With humble heart there seek thy way—
None led by that can go astray.
It will point out a holy path,
Of self-denial, love, and faith;
But strait and arduous though it be,
My God, it leads to heaven and thee.
Saviour! for mine this path I take,
Through thee alone the choice I make;
Nor one step onward can I go,
Till thou both will and power bestow.
To thee I now commit my way,
My wants, my dangers, through the day,—
Wilt thou my every want supply,
And be in every danger nigh?
Oh, let thy smile my solace be!
’Tis more than ought in life to me;
Permit me not to slight thy grace,
Or cause thee once to hide thy face.
That blessed Spirit’s aid impart,
Who can transform and cleanse my heart;
Make the polluted fountain clear,
Whose streams in words and acts appear.
Teach me this day to keep in view
The prize thy followers should pursue;
To adorn thy doctrine, and to shed
Fragrance and light where’er I tread.
Saviour! I give myself to thee;
My strength, my light, my guardian be:
My earthly days thus let me spend,
Till time, and life, and warfare end.