James Montgomery 1771-1854 John Bartlett


1
When the good man yields his breath (For the good man never dies). 1
The Wanderer of Switzerland. Part v.
2
Gashed with honourable scars, Low in Glory’s lap they lie; Though they fell, they fell like stars, Streaming splendour through the sky.
The Battle of Alexandria.
3
Distinct as the billows, yet one as the sea.
The Ocean. Line 54.
4
Once, in the flight of ages past, There lived a man.
The Common Lot.
5
Counts his sure gains, and hurries back for more.
The West Indies. Part iii.
6
Hope against hope, and ask till ye receive. 2
The World before the Flood. Canto v.
7
Joys too exquisite to last, And yet more exquisite when past.
The Little Cloud.
8
Bliss in possession will not last; Remembered joys are never past; At once the fountain, stream, and sea, They were, they are, they yet shall be.
The Little Cloud.
9
Friend after friend departs; Who hath not lost a friend? There is no union here of hearts That finds not here an end.
Friends.
10
Nor sink those stars in empty night: They hide themselves in heaven’s own light.
Friends.



11
’T is not the whole of life to live, Nor all of death to die.
The Issues of Life and Death.
12
Beyond this vale of tears There is a life above, Unmeasured by the flight of years; And all that life is love.
The Issues of Life and Death.
13
Night is the time to weep, To wet with unseen tears Those graves of memory where sleep The joys of other years.
The Issues of Life and Death.
14
Who that hath ever been Could bear to be no more? Yet who would tread again the scene He trod through life before?
The Falling Leaf.
15
Here in the body pent, Absent from Him I roam, Yet nightly pitch my moving tent A day’s march nearer home.
At Home in Heaven.
16
If God hath made this world so fair, Where sin and death abound, How beautiful beyond compare Will paradise be found!
The Earth full of God’s Goodness.
17
Return unto thy rest, my soul, From all the wanderings of thy thought, From sickness unto death made whole, Safe through a thousand perils brought.
Rest for the Soul.
18
Prayer is the soul’s sincere desire, Uttered or unexpressed,— The motion of a hidden fire That trembles in the breast.
What is Prayer?
19
Prayer is the burden of a sigh, The falling of a tear, The upward glancing of an eye When none but God is near.
What is Prayer?

Note 1.
[greek] (Say not that the good die).—Callimachus: Epigram x. [back]

Note 2.
See Barbauld, Quotation 3. [back]

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