[Page 29]

HOUR-GLASS AND BIBLE.

1 Look, Christian, on thy Bible, and that glass
2 That sheds its sand through minutes, hours, and days,
3 And years; it speaks not, yet, methinks, it says,
4 To every human heart: so mortals pass
5 On to their dark and silent grave! Alas
6 For man! an exile upon earth he strays,
7 Weary, and wandering through benighted ways;
8 To-day in strength, to-morrow like the grass
9 That withers at his feet! Lift up thy head,
10 Poor pilgrim, toiling in this vale of tears;
11 That book declares whose blood for thee was shed,
12 Who died to give thee life; and though thy years
13 Pass like a shade, pointing to thy death-bed,
14 Out of the deep thy cry an angel hears,
15 And by his guiding hand thy steps to heaven are led! [Page 30]

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Title (in Source Edition): HOUR-GLASS AND BIBLE.
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Genres: sonnet

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Bowles, William Lisle, 1762-1850. The Poetical Works of William Lisle Bowles, Vol. I. With Memoir, Critical Dissertation, and Explanatory Notes by George Gilfillan. Edinburgh: James Nichol, 9 North Bank Street..., 1855, pp. 29-30.  (Page images digitized from a copy held at the University of California Libraries.)

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