Personal Poems, Complete

HYMN OF THE CHILDREN.

Sung at the anniversary of the Children's Mission, Boston, 1878.

     Thine are all the gifts, O God!
     Thine the broken bread;
     Let the naked feet be shod,
     And the starving fed.

     Let Thy children, by Thy grace,
     Give as they abound,
     Till the poor have breathing-space,
     And the lost are found.

     Wiser than the miser's hoards
     Is the giver's choice;
     Sweeter than the song of birds
     Is the thankful voice.

     Welcome smiles on faces sad
     As the flowers of spring;
     Let the tender hearts be glad
     With the joy they bring.

     Happier for their pity's sake
     Make their sports and plays,
     And from lips of childhood take
     Thy perfected praise!