The Bower Of Prayer

The Bower of Prayer
1702

To leave my dear friends and with neighbors to part,
And go from my home, it affecte not my heart,
Like the thoughts of absenting myself for a day
From that blessed retreat where I’ve chosen to pray

Dear bower, where the pine and the poplar have spread,
And woven their branches a roof o’er my head:
How oft have I knelt on the evergreen there,
And poured out my soul to my Savior in prayer,

The early shrill notes of the loved nightingale
That welt in my bower, I observed as my hell,
To call me to duty, while birds in the air
Sung anthems of praises as 1 went to prayer

How sweet were the zephyrs perfumed by the pine,
The ty, the balsam, and wild eglantine!
But sweeter, oh! sweeter, superlative were
The joys I’ve lasted in answer to prayer

For Jesus, my Savior, oft deigned there to meet
And blessed with his presence my humble retreat,
Oft filled me with rapture and blessedness there,
Inditing with heaven’s own language my prayer

Dear bower, I must leave you and bld you adleu,
And pay my devotions in parts that are now
Well knowing my my favior realdes everywhere
And can in all places give answer to prayer

Through cold winds and storms o’er mountains ко
Press onward to glory and leave all below
For here is no elty for me to repair
Fil follow my Savior; he’s answered my prayer