A Lancashire Doxology
"PRAISE God from whom all blessings flow."
Praise Him who sendeth joy and woe.
The Lord who takes, — the Lord who gives, —
O praise Him, all that dies, and lives.
He opens and He shuts his hand,
But why, we cannot understand:
Pours and dries up his mercies' flood,
And yet is still All-perfect Good.
We fathom not the mighty plan,
The mystery of God and man;
We women, when afflictions come,
We only suffer and are dumb.
And when, the tempest passing by,
He gleams out, sun-like, through our sky,
We look up, and through black clouds riven,
We recognize the smile of Heaven.
Ours is not wisdom of the wise,
We have no deep philosophies:
Childlike we take both kiss and rod,
For he who loveth knoweth God.
Composition date is unknown - the above date represents the first publication date.The lyrical form of this poem is aabb."Some cotton has lately been imported into Farringdon,where the mills have been closed for a considerable time.The people, who were previously in the deepest distress, wentout to meet the cotton: the women wept over the bales and kissed them, and finally sang the Doxology over them." Spectator of May 14, 1863.
