Garden Thoughts,
Written on Occasion of a Ladies’ Bazaar, in Aid of the
Church Missionary Society, Being Held in the Gar-
den-Grounds of a
Benevolent Family Resident on
the Banks of the Yorkshire Ouse.
In a garden—man was placed,1
Meet abode for innocence;2
With his Maker’s image graced:3
Sin crept in, and drove him thence,4
Through the world, a wretch undone,5
Seeking rest, and finding none.6
In a garden,—on that night7
When our Saviour was betray’d,8
With what world-redeeming might,9
In his agony, He pray’d!10
Till He drank the vengeance up,11
And with mercy fill’d the cup.12
In a garden,—on the cross,13
When the spear his heart had riven,14
And for earth’s primeval loss15
Heaven’s own ransom had heen given,16
Jesus rested from his woes,17
Jesus from the dead arose.18
Here, not Eden’s bowers are found,19
Nor the lone Gethsemane,20
Nor the calm sepulchral ground21
At the foot of Calvary:22
But this scene may well recall23
Sweet remembrances of all.24
Emblem of the church below!25
Where the Spirit and the Word26
Fill like dew, like breezes blow;27
And the Lord God’s voice is heard,28
Walking in the cool of day,29
When the world is far away:30
Emblem of the church above,31
Where, amidst their native clime,32
In the garden of his love,33
Rescued from the storms of time,34
Saints, as trees of life, shall stand,35
Planted by the Lord’s right hand:36
Round the fair enclosure here,37
Flames no cherub’s threatening sword;38
Ye who enter! feel no fear:39
Roof’d by heaven, with verdure floor’d,40
Breathing balm from blossoms gay,41
This be Paradise to-day!42
Yet one moment meditate43
On that dreary banishment,44
When from Eden’s closing gate,45
Hand in hand, our parents went;46
Spikenard-groves no more to dress,47
But a thorny wilderness.48
Then remember Him, who laid49
Uncreated splendour by;50
Lower than the angels made,51
Fallen man to glorify,52
And from death beyond the grave,53
An apostate world to save.54
Think of Him: your souls He sought,55
Wandering never to return.56
Hath He found you?—At the thought57
All your hearts within you burn,58
Then your love like His extend;59
Be, like Him, the sinner’s friend.60
Over the city Jesus wept,61
Doom’d to perish:—won’t you
weep—62
Over a world, by Satan kept,63
Dreaming in delirious sleep,64
Till the twinkle of an eye65
Wakes them in eternity?66
Ye, who smile with rosy youth,67
Glow in manhood, fade through years,68
Send the life, the light, the truth,69
To dead hearts, blind eyes, deaf ears;70
And your very pleasures make71
Charities, for Jesus’ sake.72
So shall gospel-glory run73
Round the globe, through every clime,74
Brighter than the circling sun;75
Hastening that millennial time,76
When the earth shall be restored,77
As the garden of the Lord.78
Ye, who own this quiet place,79
Here, like Enoch, walk with God;80
And, till summon’d hence, through grace,81
Tread the path your Saviour trod;82
Then to paradise on high,83
With the wings of angels fly.84