Almighty GOD! when round thy shrine

The Palm-tree's heavenly branch we twine,[1]

(Emblem of Life's eternal ray,

And Love that "fadeth not away,")

We bless the flowers, expanded all,[2]

We bless the leaves that never fall,

And trembling say,—"In Eden thus

"The Tree of Life may flower for us!"

When round thy Cherubs—smiling calm,

Without their flames—we wreathe the Palm.

Oh God! we feel the emblem true—

Thy Mercy is eternal too,

Those Cherubs, with their smiling eyes,

That crown of Palm which never dies,

Are but the types of Thee above—

Eternal Life, and Peace, and Love!

[1] "The Scriptures having declared that the Temple of Jerusalem was a type of the Messiah, it is natural to conclude that the Palms, which made so conspicuous a figure in that structure, represented that Life and Immortality which were brought to light by the Gospel."—"Observations on the Palm, as a sacred Emblem," by W. Tighe.

[2] "And he carved all the walls of the house round about with carved figures of cherubim, and palm-trees, and open flowers."—1 Kings, VI. 29.