Poems

Although both John and Charles wrote hymns, Charles was the most prolific. One commentator says of Charles, "He found occasion for a hymn in every event of private or public life—his own conversion, his marriage, the earthquake panic,.

Angels . God's thoughts passing to man; spiritual intuitions, pure and perfect; the inspiration of goodness, purity, and immortality, counteracting all evil, sensuality, and mortality.

His brothers might have called him father's pet, too self-confident, not meek. He might have called himself a failure.

Grave on her monumental pile: She won from vice, by virtue's smile, Her dazzling crown, her sceptred throne, Affection's wreath, a happy home; The right to worship deep and pure, To bless the orphan, feed the poor; Last at the cross to mourn her Lord, First at the tomb to hear his word: To fold an angel's wings below; And hover o'er the couch of woe; To nurse the Bethlehem babe so sweet, The right to sit at Jesus' feet; To form the bud for bursting bloom, The hoary head with joy to crown; In short, the right to work and pray, "To point to heaven and lead the way. " Reprinted from Miscellaneous Writings , 1883–1896.

The shadows of shame disappear in the light that God's Word makes clear. Repentance, though voiced through tears, annuls the sins of earlier years and points the path of God's guidance to the good that still defines us.

Five miles high, the captain says: "Greenland ahead. " We watch in wonder as it drifts slowly into view.

It was in the eighth grade— My Dad left And seemed forever gone away. The departure sudden, Without all the things I wanted to say: How much I loved.

A feather deeply bent on rocky shore, borne down by blasting wind— How does it remain fixed, unmovable? It is white, light—even weightless yet does not yield. It will not be pried loose.

Angels thrive Between the line of our living.

Radiant thoughts on holy wings Have made my troubled midnight bright with peace. God's Mother-love, with angel-touch, Restores my hope and thankful joy.