THE PAVILION

JOSEPH JOHN GURNEY

Pavilions and palaces rise o'er the land,
And noble and wealthy are they that command
  The pleasure and pomp of the world;
Delicious their viands and glowing their wine,
And gorgeous and dazzling the emblems that shine
  On the banner by monarchs unfurled.

But vain is their honour, and brief is their day,
And the presage of night overhangs its display,
  They riot to wither and die;
No charm can enliven the house of the dead
Their banquet is past, and the cold worm is fed,
  Where princes and potentates lie.

The glory that here to the worldling is given,
Like meteors that gleam in the dark vault of heaven,
  Is lost in a moment to sight;
The sheen of the jewels, the glare of the crown,
When the angel of death mows the lofty one down,
  Are quenched in the shadows of night.

There is a pavilion the world cannot see,
Of heavenly structure, appointed for thee,
  Thou child of affliction and fears;
Dismayed as thou art at the sight of thy sin,
'T is thine a compassionate Saviour to win,
  Who wept, and can pity thy tears.


Though the troubler of Israel come in like a flood,
Thy pardon is sealed with Immanuel's blood,
  Immanuel calls thee his own;
He quiets the storm of the penitent breast,
And under his shadow permits thee to rest,
  Till he waft thee away to his throne.

How soft is that shadow, how sure its defence,
How transcendent its joys o'er the pleasures of sense,
  Like the joys of the angels above !
His table with spiritual dainties is spread,
The wine of the kingdom, the heavenly bread,
  And his banner is INFINITE LOVE.