Go, suffering pilgrim of the earth,
Go, conscious of thy heavenly birth,
And, ’midst the storms that round thee rise,
Retrace thy journey to the skies.
What though the wild winds rage around?
Thou wilt not tremble at the sound;
What though the waters o’er thee roll?
They touch not thine immortal soul.
See where, arrayed on either hand,
The direful train of passions stand;
See hatred, envy, bar thy way,
And foes more subtle still than they.
But, robed in innocence and truth,
From all temptation guard thy youth;
And from thy vestment’s sacred bound
Shake the dread fiends that cling around.
Go with pure heart and steadfast eyes,
Strive on till that bright morn shall rise
That gives thee to thy blest abode,
To rest forever with thy God.
Source: A Book of Hymns for Public and Private Devotion (15th ed.) #321
Roscoe, William, the father, was born March 8, 1753, in Liverpool, of humble origin. After very meagre schooling, and three years of work in his father's market garden, he was articled to an attorney, and subsequently practised in Liverpool till 1796, when he withdrew from the profession. From the first literature was his chief delight, and throughout a long career of public usefulness he united its pursuit with the efforts of enlightened patriotism and the advocacy of higher education and reform. Liverpool was a centre of the old slave-trade, and Roscoe was one of the first to raise his voice against the iniquity. At the age of 20 he had already uttered a protest in his descriptive poem Mount Pleasant, and in 1787 he published a longer poe… Go to person page >
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