Part 2 — ABIDE IN ME AND I IN YOU.

That mystic word of thine, O sovereign Lord, Is all too pure, too high, too deep for me; Weary of striving, and with longing faint, I breathe it back again in prayer to thee. Abide in me, I pray, and I in thee; From this good hour, O, leave me nevermore; Then shall the discord cease, the wound be healed, The lifelong bleeding of the soul be o'er. Abide in me—o'ershadow by thy love Each half-formed purpose and dark thought of sin; Quench, e'er it rise, each selfish, low desire, And keep my soul as thine, calm and divine. As some rare perfume in a vase of clay Pervades it with a fragrance not its own, So, when thou dwellest in a mortal soul, All heaven's own sweetness seems around it thrown. The soul alone, like a neglected harp, Grows out of tune, and needs a hand divine; Dwell thou within it, tune, and touch the chords, Till every note and string shall answer thine. Abide in me; there have been moments pure When I have seen thy face and felt thy power; Then evil lost its grasp, and passion, hushed, Owned the divine enchantment of the hour. These were but seasons beautiful and rare; "Abide in me,"—and they shall ever be; Fulfil at once thy precept and my prayer— Come and abide in me, and I in thee.