Clamanda

1. Say now, ye lovely social band,
    Who walk the way to Canaan’s land;
Ye who have fled from Sodom’s plain,
    Say, do you wish to turn again?
Oh! Have you ventured to the field,
    Well armed with helmet, sword, and shield!
And shall the world, with dread alarms,
    Compel you now to ground your arms?

2. O, come, young soldiers, count the cost,
    And say, what pleasures have you lost?
Or what misfortune does it bring,
    To have Jehovah for your king?
Shall sin entice you back again,
    And bind you with its iron chain?
Has vice to you such lovely charms,
    That you must die within its arms?

3. Is folly’s way the way of peace,
    Where fear, and pain, and sorrow cease?
Does pleasure roll its living stream,
    And is religion all a dream?
Say, what contentment did you find
    When love of pleasure ruled your mind?
No sweet reflection gave you rest,
    Nor conscious virtue calmed your breast.

4. Did you not dread the hast’ning day,
    When carnal joys must pass away?
When death shall sing in mournful strain,
    “Let dust to dust return again?”
But now your thoughts delight to soar
    Where earth and time shall be no more;
They pass the grave and mount on high,
    To the fair fields above the sky.