G. A. Henty - "With Moore At Corunna"

James Parton - "Captains of Industry"

Grace Miller White - "The Secret of the Storm Country"

Arthur J. Rees - "The Shrieking Pit"

Annual Bibliography of Commonwealth Literature 2007
This paper argues that discourses of love in Ghanaian market literature for youth offer a view into complex negotiations of agency and empowerment. Drawing on Deborah Durham's notion of youth as "social `shifters'" and Francis Nyamnjoh's conception of the "interconnectedness" of agency, I take Ghanaian market literature as one specific case of how African literature for youth foregrounds questions of continuity and change as African societies enter into increasingly complex global relations. In this literature for youth, received notions of love, often constructed out of impressions from American pop and hip hop music, carry new notions of agency that compete with existing "domesticated" forms. Authors like Ike Tandoh and Evelyn Tay employ discourses of love to offer youth alternative avenues for empowerment in a context of socio-economic disenfranchizement. In a creative process of "straddling", this writing both reveals and reproduces the contradictions that obtain in youth configurations of agency.

Hymns for Christian Devotion

J >> J.G. Adams >> Hymns for Christian Devotion




4 That pardon we to others give,
Do thou to us extend;
From all temptation, Lord, relieve;
From every ill defend.

5 And now to thee belong, Most High,
The kingdom, glory, power,
Through the broad earth and spacious sky,
Both now and evermore.




441. 10s. M. Dr. Johnson.

From Boethius.

Seeking God.


1 O Thou, whose power o'er moving worlds presides,
Whose voice created, and whose wisdom guides,
On darkling man in pure effulgence shine,
And cheer his clouded mind with light divine.

2 'T is thine alone to calm the pious breast
With silent confidence and holy rest;
From thee, great God, we spring, to thee we tend;
Path, Motive, Guide, Original, and End.




442. S. M. Watts.

Abba, Father.


1 Behold, what wondrous grace
The Father has bestowed
On sinners of a mortal race,
To call them sons of God!

2 Nor doth it yet appear
How great we must be made;
But when we see our Saviour here,
We shall be like our Head.

3 A hope so much divine
May trials well endure;
May purify our souls from sin,
As Christ, the Lord, is pure.

4 We would no longer lie
Like slaves beneath the throne;
Our faith shall Abba, Father, cry,
And thou the kindred own.




443. L. M. Mrs. Steele.

The Christian's Resolve.


1 Ah wretched souls, who strive in vain,
Slaves to the world, and slaves to sin!
A nobler toil may I sustain,
A nobler satisfaction win.

2 May I resolve, with all my heart,
With all my powers, to serve the Lord;
Nor from his precepts e'er depart,
Whose service is a rich reward.

3 Be this the purpose of my soul,
My solemn, my determined choice,
To yield to his supreme control,
And in his kind commands rejoice.

4 O may I never faint nor tire,
Nor, wandering, leave his sacred ways;
Great God! accept my soul's desire,
And give me strength to live thy praise.




444. L. M. Browne.

"Giving thanks to God in all things."


1 Great God! my joyful thanks to thee
Shall, like thy gifts, continual be:
In constant streams thy bounty flows,
Nor end nor intermission knows.

2 Thy kindness all my comforts gives;
My numerous wants thy hand relieves;
Nor can I ever, Lord, be poor,
Who live on thy exhaustless store.

3 If what I wish thy will denies,
It is that thou art good and wise;
Afflictions, which may make me mourn,
Thou canst, thou dost, to blessings turn.

4 Deep, Lord, upon my thankful breast,
Let all thy favors be imprest;
And though withdrawn thy gifts should be
In all things I'll give thanks to thee.




445. C. M. Doddridge.

"Now are we sons of God."


1 How rich thy favors, God of grace!
How various, how divine!
Full as the ocean they are poured,
And bright as heaven they shine.

2 He to eternal glory calls,
And leads the wondrous way
To his own palace where he reigns
In uncreated day.

3 Jesus, the herald of his love,
Displays the radiant prize,
A crown of never-ending bliss,
To our admiring eyes.

4 The songs of everlasting years
That mercy shall attend,
Which leads, through sufferings of an hour,
To joys that never end.




446. C. M. H. H. Milman.

Praying for Divine Help.


1 O Help us, Lord! each hour of need
Thy heavenly succor give;
Help us in thought, and word, and deed,
Each hour on earth we live.

2 O help us, when our spirits bleed,
With contrite anguish sore,
And when our hearts are cold and dead,
O help us, Lord, the more.

3 O help us through the prayer of faith
More firmly to believe;
For still the more the servant hath,
The more shall he receive.

4 O help us, Father! from on high;
We know no help but thee;
O! help us so to live and die,
As thine in heaven to be.




447. C. H. M. Anonymous.

Come, let us Pray.


1 Come, let us pray: 'tis sweet to feel
That God himself is near;
That, while we at his footstool kneel,
His mercy deigns to hear:
Though sorrows cloud life's dreary way,
This is our solace--let us pray.

2 Come, let us pray: the burning brow,
The heart oppressed with care,
And all the woes that throng us now,
Will be relieved by prayer:
Our God will chase our griefs away;
O, glorious thought!--come, let us pray.

3 Come, let us pray: the mercy-seat
Invites the fervent prayer.
Our Heavenly Father waits to greet
The contrite spirit there:
O, loiter not, nor longer stay
From him who loves us; let us pray.




448. L. M. Sir Walter Scott.

Imploring the constant Presence of God.


1 When Israel of the Lord beloved,
Out from the land of bondage came,
Her father's God before her moved,
An awful guide in smoke and flame.

2 By day, along th' astonished lands,
The cloudy pillar glided slow;
By night, Arabia's crimsoned sands
Returned the fiery column's glow.

3 Thus, present still, though now unseen,
When brightly shines the prosperous day,
Be thoughts of thee a cloudy screen,
To temper the deceitful ray!

4 And O, when gathers on our path,
In shade and storm, the frequent night,
Be thou, long-suffering, slow to wrath,
A burning and a shining light!




449. C. M. C. Wesley.

Watchfulness.


1 I want a principle within
Of jealous, godly fear;
A sensibility of sin,
A pain to find it near.

2 I want the first approach to feel
Of pride, or fond desire;
To catch the wandering of my will,
And quench the kindling fire.

3 From thee that I no more may part,
No more thy goodness grieve,
The filial awe, the fleshly heart,
The tender conscience give.

4 Quick as the apple of the eye,
O God, my conscience make!
Awake my soul when sin is nigh,
And keep it still awake.




450. C. M. Smart.

For Prudence and Wisdom.


1 Father of light! conduct my feet
Through life's dark, dangerous road;
Let each advancing step still bring
Me nearer to my God.

2 Let heaven-eyed prudence be my guide;
And, when I go astray,
Recall my feet from folly's path
To wisdom's better way.

3 Teach me in every various scene
To keep my end in sight;
And while I tread life's mazy track,
Let wisdom guide me right.

4 That heavenly wisdom from above
Abundantly impart;
And let it guard, and guide, and warm,
And penetrate my heart:

5 Till it shall lead me to thyself,
Fountain of bliss and love!
And all my darkness be dispersed
In endless light above.




451. C. M. Moore.

Heaven Desired.


1 The bird let loose in Eastern skies,
Returning fondly home,
Ne'er stoops to earth her wing, nor flies
Where idle warblers roam.

2 But high she shoots through air and light--
Above all low delay,
Where nothing earthly bounds her flight,
Nor shadow dims her way.

3 So grant me, God, from every snare
Of sinful passion free,
Aloft through faith's serener air
To hold my course to thee.

4 No sin to cloud, no lure to stay
My soul, as home she springs;
Thy sunshine on her joyful way,
Thy freedom on her wings.




452. L. M. Stowell.

The Mercy-seat.


1 From every stormy wind that blows,
From every swelling tide of woes,
There is a calm, a sure retreat;
'Tis found before the mercy-seat.

2 There is a place were Jesus sheds
The oil of gladness on our heads,--
A place of all on earth most sweet;
It is the heavenly mercy-seat.

3 There is a scene where spirits blend,
Where friend holds fellowship with friend;
Though sundered far, by faith they meet
Around one common mercy-seat.

4 There, there, on eagle wings we soar,
And sin and sense molest no more;
And heaven comes down our souls to greet,
And glory crowns the mercy-seat.




453. C. M. Steele.

Thirsting after God.


1 When fainting in the sultry waste,
And parched with thirst extreme,
The weary pilgrim longs to taste
The cool, refreshing stream.

2 So longs the weary, fainting mind,
Oppressed with sins and woes,
Some soul-reviving spring to find,
Whence heavenly comfort flows.

3 O, may I thirst for thee, my God,
With ardent, strong desire;
And still, through all this desert road,
To taste thy grace aspire.

4 Then shall my prayer to thee ascend,
A grateful sacrifice;
My mourning voice thou wilt attend,
And grant me full supplies.




454. 7s. M. Newton.

Self-Distrust.


1 'T is a point I long to know,--
Oft it causes anxious thought,--
Do I love the Lord, or no?
Am I his, or am I not?

2 If I love, why am I thus?
Why this dull and lifeless frame?
Hardly, sure, can they be worse,
Who have never heard his name.

3 If I pray, or hear, or read,
Sin is mixed with all I do;
You that love the Lord indeed,
Tell me, is it thus with you?

4 Yet I mourn my stubborn will,
Find my sin a grief and thrall;
Should I grieve for what I feel,
If I did not love at all?

5 Father, let me love thee more,
If I love at all, I pray;
If I have not loved before,
Help me to begin to-day.




455. L. M. Doddridge.

Choosing the Better Part.


1 Beset with snares on every hand,
In life's uncertain path I stand:
Father divine! diffuse thy light,
To guide my doubtful footsteps right.

2 Engage this roving, treacherous heart,
Wisely to choose the better part;
To scorn the trifles of a day,
For joys that none can take away.

3 Then let the wildest storms arise,
Let tempests mingle earth with skies,
No fatal shipwreck shall I fear,
But all my treasures with me bear.

4 If thou, my Saviour, still be nigh,
Cheerful I live, and joyful die;
Secure, when mortal comforts flee,
To find ten thousand worlds in thee.




456. C. M. Watts.

Sincerity and Hypocrisy.


1 God is a spirit just and wise,
He sees our inmost mind;
In vain to heaven we raise our cries,
And leave our souls behind.

2 Nothing but truth before his throne
With honor can appear;
The painted hypocrites are known
Through the disguise they wear.

3 Their lifted eyes salute the skies,
Their bending knees the ground;
But God abhors the sacrifice
Where not the heart is found.

4 Lord, search my thoughts, and try my ways,
And make my soul sincere;
Then shall I stand before thy face,
And find acceptance there.




457. C. P. M. Wesley's Coll.

True Wisdom.


1 Be it my only wisdom here,
To serve the Lord with filial fear,
With loving gratitude;
Superior sense may I display,
By shunning every evil way,
And walking in the good.

2 O may I still from sin depart!
A wise and understanding heart,
Father, to me be given!
And let me through thy Spirit know
To glorify my God below,
And find my way to heaven.




458. L. M. 6l. Merrick.

For the Understanding and Influence of God's Word.


1 While here as wandering sheep we stray,
Teach us, O teach us, Lord, thy way!
Dispose our hearts, with willing awe,
To love thy word, to keep thy law;
That, by thy guiding precepts led,
Our feet the paths of truth may tread.

2 Great Source of light to all below!
Teach us thy holy will to know:
Teach us to read thy word aright,
And make it our supreme delight;
That, purged from vain desires, our mind
In thee its only good may find.

3 Maker, instructer, judge of all,
O hear us when on thee we call!
To us, all-bounteous Lord, dispense
Thy grace, and guiding influence!
Preserve us in thy holy ways,
And teach our hearts to speak thy praise!




459. C. M. Montgomery.

Solomon's Prayer for Wisdom.


1 Almighty God! in humble prayer
To thee our souls we lift;
Do thou our waiting minds prepare
For thy most needful gift.

2 We ask not golden streams of wealth
Along our path to flow;
We ask not undecaying health,
Nor length of years below.

3 We ask not honors, which an hour
May bring and take away;
We ask not pleasure, pomp, and power,
Lest we should go astray.

4 We ask for wisdom;--Lord, impart
The knowledge how to live;
A wise and understanding heart
To all before thee give.

5 The young remember thee in youth,
Before the evil days!
The old be guided by thy truth
In wisdom's pleasant ways!




460. C. M. Cowper.

Walking with God.


1 O, for a closer walk with God!
A calm and heavenly frame!
A light to shine upon the road
That leads me to the Lamb!

2 What peaceful hours I once enjoyed!
How sweet their memory still!
But now I find an aching void
The world can never fill.

3 Return, O holy Dove, return,
Sweet messenger of rest;
I hate the sins that made thee mourn,
And drove thee from my breast.

4 The dearest idol I have known,
Whate'er that idol be,
Help me to tear it from thy throne,
And worship only thee.




461. C. M. Doddridge.

For Freedom from Secret Sin.


1 Searcher of hearts! before thy face
I all my soul display;
And, conscious of its innate arts,
Entreat thy strict survey.

2 If, lurking in its inmost folds,
I any sin conceal,
O, let a ray of light divine
The secret guile reveal.

3 If tinctured with that odious gall
Unknowing I remain,
Let grace, like a pure silver stream,
Wash out the hateful stain.

4 If, in these fatal fetters bound,
A wretched slave I lie,
Smite off my chains, and wake my soul
To light and liberty.

5 To humble penitence and prayer
Be gentle pity given;
Speak ample pardon to my heart,
And seal its claim to heaven.




462. S. M. Gruenbeck.

Self-abandonment to God.


1 Lord! bring me to resign
My doubting heart to thee;
And, whether cheerful or distressed,
Thine, thine alone to be.

2 My only aim be this,--
Thy purpose to fulfil,
In thee rejoice with all my strength,
And do thy holy will.

3 Lord! thy all-seeing eye
Keeps watch with sleepless care:
Thy great compassion never fails;
Thou hear'st my needy prayer.

4 So will I firmly trust,
That thou wilt guide me still,
And guard me safe throughout the way
That leads to Zion's hill.




463. C. M. Cowper.

Religious Retirement.


1 Far from the world, O Lord! I flee,
From strife and tumult far;
From scenes, where sin is waging still
Its most successful war.

2 The calm retreat, the silent shade,
With prayer and praise agree;
And seem, by thy sweet bounty, made
For those who follow thee.

3 There, if thy spirit touch the soul,
And grace her mean abode;
O with what peace, and joy, and love,
She communes with her God.

4 There, like the nightingale, she pours
Her solitary lays;
Nor asks a witness of her song,
Nor thirsts for human praise.

5 Author and Guardian of my life,
Sweet Source of light divine,
And all harmonious names in one,
My Father--thou art mine!




464. C. M. J. J. Gurney.

Silent Worship.


1 Let deepest silence all around
Its peaceful shelter spread;
So shall the living word abound,
The word that wakes the dead.

2 How sweet to wait upon the Lord
In stillness and in prayer!
What though no preacher speak the word
A minister is there:

3 He knows to bend the heart of steel,
He bows the loftiest soul;
O'er all we think and all we feel,
How matchless his control!

4 And, O, how precious is his love
In tender mercy given;
It whispers of the blest above,
And stays the soul on heaven.

5 From mind to mind, in streams of joy,
The holy influence spreads;
'T is peace, 'tis praise without alloy,
For God that influence sheds.

6 To thee, O God, we still will pray,
And praise thee as before;
For this thy glorious gospel-day,
Teach us to praise thee more.




465. L. M. 6l. Bowring.

"Help thou my unbelief."


1 If listening, as I listen still,
O God! to thine instructive word,
In spite of all my spirit's will,
Some whispering voice of doubt is heard,--
That voice spontaneous from the soul,
Which nought can check and nought control;

2 If when most earnestly I pray
For light, for aid, for strength from thee,
Some struggling thoughts will force their way,
And break my soul's serenity;--
If reason, thy best gift, will hold
The sceptre only half controlled:--

3 Help and forgive! heaven's alphabet
Hath many a word of mystery;
I read not all thy record yet,
Though perseveringly I try;
But teach me, Lord! and none shall be
More prompt, more pleased to learn of thee.




466. S. M. Herbert.

Doing all to the Glory of God.


1 Teach me, my God and King,
In all things thee to see;
And what I do in anything,
To do it as for thee!

2 To scorn the senses' sway,
While still to thee I tend;
In all I do be thou the way,--
In all be thou the end.

3 All may of thee partake:
Nothing so small can be,
But draws, when acted for thy sake,
Greatness and worth from thee.

4 If done beneath thy laws,
Even servile labors shine;
Hallowed is toil, if this the cause,
The meanest work divine.




467. 8s. 7s. & 4s. M. Oliver.

God the Pilgrim's Guide and Strength.


1 Guide me, O thou great Jehovah,
Pilgrim through this mortal land:
I am weak, but thou art mighty;
Hold me with thy powerful hand:
Bread of heaven,
Feed me till I want no more.

2 Open now the crystal fountain,
Whence the healing streams do flow;
Let the fiery, cloudy pillar
Lead me all my journey through:
Strong Deliverer,
Be thou still my strength and shield.

3 When I tread the verge of Jordan,
Bid my anxious fears subside;
Bear me through the swelling current;
Land me safe on Canaan's side:
Songs of praises
I will ever give to thee.




468. C. M. Wreford.

Prayer for Faith.


1 Lord! I believe; thy power I own,
Thy word I would obey;
I wander comfortless, and lone,
When from thy truth I stray.

2 Lord! I believe; but gloomy fears
Sometimes bedim my sight;
I look to thee with prayers and tears,
And cry for strength and light.

3 Lord! I believe; but oft, I know,
My faith is cold and weak;
Strengthen my weakness, and bestow
The confidence I seek!

4 Yes, I believe; and only thou
Canst give my soul relief;
Lord! to thy truth my spirit bow,
Help thou my unbelief!




469. S. M. Watts.

Safety in God.


1 When overwhelmed with grief,
My heart within me dies;
Helpless and far from all relief,
To heaven I lift mine eyes.

2 O lead me to the rock
That's high above my head;
And make the covert of thy wings
My shelter and my shade.

3 Within thy presence, Lord,
I ever would abide;
Thou art the tower of my defence,
The refuge where I hide.




470. C. M. Montgomery.

Prayer for Grace in Trial.


1 Father of all our mercies, thou
In whom we move and live,
Hear us in heaven, thy dwelling, now,
And answer, and forgive.

2 When, harassed by ten thousand foes,
Our helplessness we feel,
O, give the weary soul repose,
The wounded spirit heal.

3 When dire temptations gather round
And threaten or allure,
By storm or calm, in thee be found
A refuge strong and sure.

4 When age advances, may we grow
In faith, in hope, and love,
And walk in holiness below
To holiness above.

5 When earthly joys and cares depart,
Desire and envy cease,
Be thou the portion of our heart,--
In thee may we have peace.




471. L. M. Roscoe.

The Solace of Faith.


1 When human hopes and joys depart,
I give thee, Lord, a contrite heart;
And on my weary spirit steal
The thoughts that pass all earthly weal.

2 I cast above my tearful eyes,
And muse upon the starry skies;
And think that He who governs there
Still keeps me in his guardian care.

3 I gaze upon the opening flower,
Just moistened with the evening shower;
And bless the love which made it bloom,
To chase away my transient gloom.

4 I think, whene'er this mortal frame
Returns again to whence it came,
My soul shall wing its happy flight
To regions of eternal light.




472. C. M. Wesleyan.

For Purity of Heart.


1 O, for a heart to praise my God,
A heart from sin set free;
A heart that always feels how good,
Thou, Lord, hast been to me.

2 O for a humble, contrite heart,
Believing, true, and clean,
Which neither life nor death can part
From him who dwells within;--

3 A heart in every thought renewed,
And full of love divine,
Perfect, and right, and pure and good,
Conformed, O Lord, to thine.

4 Thy temper, gracious Lord, impart;
Come quickly from above;
O, write thy name upon my heart,
Thy name, O God, is Love.




473. L. M. Bowring.

God's sustaining Presence.


1 Father and friend, thy light, thy love
Beaming through all thy works we see;
Thy glory gilds the heavens above,
And all the earth is full of thee.

2 Thy voice we hear, thy presence feel,
Whilst thou, too pure for mortal sight,
Involved in clouds, invisible,
Reignest the Lord of life and light.

3 We know not in what hallowed part
Of the wide heavens thy throne may be;
But this we know,--that where thou art,
Strength, wisdom, goodness, dwell with thee.

4 Thy children shall not faint nor fear,
Sustained by this delightful thought,--
Since thou, their God, art everywhere,
They cannot be where thou art not.




474. S. M. Episcopal Coll.

Ark of Safety.


1 O, cease, my wandering soul,
On restless wing to roam;
All this wide world, to either pole,
Has not for thee a home.

2 Behold the ark of God;
Behold the open door;
O, haste to gain that dear abode,
And rove, my soul, no more.

3 There, safe thou shalt abide,
There, sweet shall be thy rest,
And every longing satisfied,
With full salvation blest.




475. C. M. Watts.

"O that my ways were directed to keep thy statutes."


1 O that the Lord would guide my ways
To keep his statutes still!
O that my God would grant me grace
To know and do his will!

2 O send thy Spirit down to write
Thy law upon my heart!
Nor let my tongue indulge deceit,
Nor act the liar's part.

3 Order my footsteps by thy word,
And make my heart sincere;
Let sin have no dominion, Lord,
But keep my conscience clear.

4 Make me to walk in thy commands,--
'Tis a delightful road;
Nor let my head, or heart, or hands,
Offend against my God.




476. C. M. T. Humphries.

"Lord, remember me."


1 O thou, from whom all goodness flows,
I lift my soul to thee;
In all my sorrows, conflicts, woes,
Good Lord, remember me.

2 When on my aching, burdened heart
My sins lie heavily,
Thy pardon grant, new peace impart:
Good Lord, remember me.

3 When trials sore obstruct my way,
And ills I cannot flee,
O let my strength be as my day:
Good Lord, remember me.

4 And when before thy throne I stand,
And lift my soul to thee,
Then, with the saints at thy right hand,
Good Lord, remember me!

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