Alfred H. Miles, ed. The Sacred Poets of the Nineteenth Century. 1907.
By Poems. II. The Child SamuelJames Drummond Burns (1823–1864)
H
The temple-courts were dark;
The lamp was burning dim
Before the sacred ark;
When suddenly a voice divine,
Rang through the silence of the shrine.
The priest of Israel—slept;
His watch, the temple-child,—
The little Levite—kept;
And what from Eli’s sense was seal’d
The Lord to Hannah’s son reveal’d.
The open ear, O God!
Alive and quick to hear
Each whisper of Thy word;
Like him to answer at Thy call,
And to obey Thee first of all.
A lowly heart that waits
Where in Thy house Thou art,
Or watches at Thy gates,
By day and night—a heart that still
Moves at the breathing of Thy will.
A sweet unmurmuring faith,
Obedient and resign’d
To Thee, in life and death;
That I may read with child-like eyes
Truths that are hidden from the wise.