11.06.2007, 16:57
On Visiting a Missionary Settlement
By Heaven directed, by the world reviled,
Amidst the wilderness they sought a home,
Where beasts of prey and men of murder roam,
And untamed Nature holds her revels wild:
There, on their pious toils their Master smiled,
And prosper'd them, unknown or scorn'd of men,
Till in the satyr's haunt and dragon's den
A garden bloom'd, and savage hordes grew mild.
So, in the guilty heart when heavenly grace
Enters, it ceaseth not till it uproot
All evil passions from each hidden cell;
Planting again an Eden in their place,
Which yields to men and angels pleasant fruit;
And God himself delighteth there to dwell.
By Heaven directed, by the world reviled,
Amidst the wilderness they sought a home,
Where beasts of prey and men of murder roam,
And untamed Nature holds her revels wild:
There, on their pious toils their Master smiled,
And prosper'd them, unknown or scorn'd of men,
Till in the satyr's haunt and dragon's den
A garden bloom'd, and savage hordes grew mild.
So, in the guilty heart when heavenly grace
Enters, it ceaseth not till it uproot
All evil passions from each hidden cell;
Planting again an Eden in their place,
Which yields to men and angels pleasant fruit;
And God himself delighteth there to dwell.