Joy.

Grimshaw, Roundhay Lake, Leeds, 1893

IN MEMORY of a HAPPY DAY in FEBRUARY

Blessed be Thou for all the joy

 My soul has felt today!

O let its memory stay with me

 And never pass away!

I was alone, for those I loved

 Were far away from me,

The sun shone on the withered grass,

 The wind blew fresh and free.

Was it the smile of early spring

 That made my bosom glow?

'Twas sweet, but neither sun nor wind

 Could raise my spirit so.

Was it some feeling of delight,

 All vague and undefined?

No, 'twas a rapture deep and strong,

 Expanding in the mind!

Was it a sanguine view of life

 And all its transient bliss–

A hope of bright prosperity?

 O no, it was not this!

It was a glimpse of truth divine

 Unto my spirit given

Illumined by a ray of light

 That shone direct from heaven!

I felt there was a God on high

 By whom all things were made.

I saw His wisdom and his power

 In all his works displayed.

But most throughout the moral world

 I saw his glory shine;

I saw His wisdom infinite,

 His mercy all divine.

Deep secrets of his providence

 In darkness long concealed

Unto the vision of my soul

 Were graciously revealed.

But while I wondered and adored

 His wisdom so divine,

I did not tremble at his power,

 I felt that God was mine.

I knew that my Redeemer lived,

 I did not fear to die;

Full sure that I should rise again

 To immortality.

I longed to view that bliss divine

 Which eye hath never seen,

Like Moses, I would see His face

Without the veil between.

Anne Brontë