109

 109. The Gift of Tongues  ONCE cast with men of language strange  And foreign-moulded creed, I mark'd their random converse change,  And sacred themes succeed.  Oh, how I coveted the gift  To thread their mingled throng Of sounds, then high my witness lift!  But weakness chain'd my tongue.  Lord! has our dearth of faith and prayer  Lost us this power once given, Or is it sent at seasons rare  And then flits back to heaven?

   At Sea .  June 24, 1833.