“Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest."
These lines, and also the following poem, entitled "Zion," may be sung to the air of the well-known melody, "Has sorrow thy young days shaded?" which will be found at page 103.
YE desolate children of sorrow
As fleet as the bloom of May,
Your dreams of a brighter morrow,
Your hopes, have they pass'd away?
The chill breath of time, does it wither
The bough where ye build your nest?
Ah, come then, ye mourners, come hither,
I'll tell you of endless rest.
I'll tell you of him who hath spoken
Sweet peace to my weary heart,
And heal'd it, though wither'd and broken,
With love's all-availing art.
It was he, 'twas the Lord of Glory,
Who died on the cursed tree,
On Calvary, stricken and gory,
A suffering Lamb for me.
Alone on the desolate mountains,
With tangled and sullied fleece,
I wander'd afar from the fountains
Of holiness, life, and peace;
'Till he o'er the hills, like a shepherd,
In quest of his stray one, pass'd,
And saved from the lion and leopard
The life of my soul at last.
Ye who dwell, like a trembling sparrow,
Alone on a leafless bough,
From the point of the archer's arrow
Defenseless, unshelter'd now,
Fly, fly to the Savior—come hither,
From sorrow, from fear and strife,
To a branch that will never wither—
Come dwell in the tree of life.