On a Fair Day [poem by Menie Parkes]

[Editor: This poem by Menie Parkes was published in Poems (1867).]

On a Fair Day.

Oh, calm and wide, the smile of Heaven,
Sets all the world aglow;
Look up, look up, sad heart, forgiven,
God’s smile is shining — even so.

Oh, fresh and free, the cooling wind
O’er every aching brow does blow;
Arise, arise, my drooping mind,
God’s spirit healeth — even so.

The rushing and excited waves
Still fettered by their boundaries flow,
And Satan’s armies, timid soul,
God’s hand retaineth — even so.

God’s hand in nature governs well!
No aimless doings there we know;
Nor need we aught the truth to tell —
God rules his children — even so.

Source:
Menie Parkes, Poems, F. Cunninghame, Sydney, [1867], pages 98-99