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WHAT IS HOPE?

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Publishing Committee · Battle Creek, Mich. · Apr 23, 1861

FromReview and Herald, Vol. 17, No. 23.

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WHAT IS HOPE?

By S. Elmer

"Tis not a mere and empty wish, That flits across the mind, Or a desire for anything Which we may never find.
"Tis not confin'd to things of earth, Or to the wise and great, It scorns the carnal sons of mirth, And leaves them to their fate.
Then what is hope, I fain would know, For long I've wandered round With many a weary step; O, where Can lasting hope be found?
O traveler, cease each vain pursuit; Why seek for it below? In Eden's fair and flowery fields It perished long ago.
The hopes of earth, alas, how brief; Full soon they pass away, Like as the fading of a leaf, Or as the flowers so gay.
But there's a hope which ne'er can fail, Though wild waves dash around; It anchors fast within the veil, And rests on solid ground.
It trusts in the atoning blood Of him who once has died; And through obedience to God, By faith is justified.
It works by love, as grace subdues Each evil of the heart, And to the tried and tempted soul Doth a new life impart.
It soars aloft above the world, Beyond the stars of light, And as it nears the heavenly port, Glows with a radiance bright.
S. Elmer. Ashfield, Mass.