Not Satisfied by C. M. Willis

The Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · May 22, 1866

Not Satisfied.

By C. M. Willis

Nor satisfied with earnest, weary yearning, Earth's bitter fountains have no power to fill; Its fancied bliss to pain is ever turning, We deeply quaff, but ah, we're thirsty still. The heart unsatisfied is ever reaching Onward, still onward, for a purer joy, Nor heeds the lesson life to us is teaching, There is no pleasure here without alloy.

Longing for something more, and still pursuing A goal, a phantom, in the bye and bye; We grasp the prize to find it unenduring, And all our cherished hopes in ruin lie; We turn to bathe in earth's bright sparkling waters, Soothe in its waves our weariness and fears, But on its burning sands our footsteps falter, Its brightest sparkle proves but bitter tears.

Not satisfied—though friendship's voice is breathing Sweet words of love in many a cheering vow; And fame, its fairest laurels for us wreathing, Would wind the chaplet round our aching brow. In vain these all—the heart seeks something higher, Longing for pleasures still more true and tried, Vain all our strife to bring earth's brightness nigher, The heart still shrinketh back unsatisfied.

Upward we turn our thoughts to heavenly pleasures, Seek from above a solace for our pain; But earthly dross corrupts our purest treasures, And thoughts still wander back to earth again. Each day the conflict in our hearts is raging, In turn the victory sways from side to side; We fail, then conquer, in the strife engaging, And each day finds us still unsatisfied.

Earth cannot satisfy the soul's vague longing, Its transient joys have ne'er a power to thrill; We lift our eyes, what blissful thoughts are thronging, We look away to Zion's peaceful hill, Beyond the stars, far in the glowing azure, In heavenly lands where sweetest joys abide, Where nought more wondrous tells of purest pleasure Than this sweet song, "I shall be satisfied." C. M. WILLIS.