PROCTER, Adelaide Anne


One By One The Sands Are Flowing

One by one the sands are flowing,

One by one the moments fall:

Some are coming, some are going;

Do not strive to grasp them all.

One by one thy duties wait thee;

Let thy whole strength go to each;

Let no future dreams elate thee;

Learn thou first what these can teach.

One by one,-bright gifts of heaven,-

Joys are sent thee here below;

Take them readily when given;

Ready be to let them go.

One by one thy griefs shall meet thee;

Do not fear an armed band;

One will fade as others greet thee,-

Shadows passing through the land.

Every hour that fleets so slowly

Has its task to do our bear:

Luminous the crown and holy,

When each gem is set with care.

Hours are golden links, God's token

Reaching heaven; but one by one

Take them, lest the chain be broken

Ere the pilgrimage be done.


My God, I thank Thee who hast made

My God, I thank Thee who hast made

The earth so bright;

So full of splendour and of joy,

Beauty and light;

So many glorious things are here,

Noble and right!

I thank Thee, too, that Thou hast made

Joy to abound;

So many gentle thoughts and deeds

Circling us round,

That in the darkest spot of earth

Some love is found.

I thank Thee more that all our joy

Is touched with pain;

That shadows fall on brightest hours;

So that earth's bliss may be our guide,

And not our chain.

For Thou, who knowest, Lord, how soon

Our weak heart clings,

Hath given us joys, tender and true,

Yet all with wings;

So that we see, gleaming on high,

Diviner things.

I thank Thee, Lord, that Thou hast kept

The best in store:

We have enough, yet not too much

To long for more;

A yearning for a deeper peace,

Not known before.