The Christian Child

By cool Siloam’s shady rill,

How fair the lily grows;

How sweet the breath beneath the hill

Of Sharon’s dewy rose:

And such the child whose early feet

The paths of peace have trod,

Whose secret heart, with influence sweet,

Is upward drawn to God.

By cool Siloam’s shady rill

The lily must decay;

The rose that blooms beneath the hill

Must shortly fade away;

And soon, too soon, the wintry hour

Of man’s maturer age

May shake the soul with sorrow’s power

And stormy passion’s rage.

O Thou, whose infancy was found

With heavenly rays to shine,

Whose years, with changeless virtue crowned,

Were all alike divine,--

Dependent on Thy bounteous breath,

We seek Thy grace alone,

In childhood, manhood, and in death,

To keep us still Thine own.