UP o’er the shining ways of light, That flash across the starry skies, Up to Creation’s loftiest hight, The pathway of the spirit lies. Where countless constellations gleam, The soul triumphant shall ascend, Shall drink of Life’s eternal stream, And with new forms of being blend. No boundless solitude of space Shall fill man’s conscious soul with awe, But everywhere his eye shall trace The beauty of eternal law. Sweet music from celestial isles Shall float across the azure seas, And flowers, where endless summer smiles, Shall waft their perfumes on the breeze. No empty void, no rayless night, No wintry waves by tempests tossed, No treasures ravished from the sight, No blighted hopes, no blessing lost; But all that was, or yet shall be, Through endless transformations led, Shall know, through Life’s sublime decree, A resurrection from the dead. And he who, through the lapse of years, With aching heart and weary feet, Had sought, from gloomy doubts and fears, A refuge and a sure retreat-- Shall find at last an inner shrine, Secure from superstition’s ban, Where he shall learn the truth divine, That God dwells evermore with man. Throughout the boundless All in All, Life lengthens--an unbroken chain-- And He in whom we stand or fall, Feels all our pleasure and our pain. O Infinite! O Holy Heart! Give us but patience to endure, Until we know thee as thou art, And feel our lives in thee made sure. GUARDIAN ANGELS. HOLY ministers of light! Hidden from our mortal sight, But whose presence can impart Peace and comfort to the heart, When we weep, or when we pray, When we falter in the way, Or our hearts grow faint with fear, Let us feel your presence near. Wandering over ways untrod, Doubting self and doubting God, Oft we miss the shining mark, Oft we stumble in the dark. Holy, holy life above! Full of peace and perfect love, Some sweet rays of summer shed On the wintry ways we tread. Blessed angels! ye who heed All our striving, all our need, When our eyes with weeping ache, When our hearts in silence break, When the cross is hard to bear, When we fail to do and dare, Make our wounded spirits feel All your power to bless and heal. When we gaze on new-made graves, When the love the spirit craves, Pure and saintly, like a star, Shines upon us from afar, Lead us _upward_ to that light, Till our faith is changed to sight, Till we learn to murmur not, And with patience bear our lot.