Aspiring to heaven

Inflamed with ardour half divine,
For heaven I earthly gain resign;
Those starry lamps that grace the pole,
Inspire with joy my raptured soul.

O the dear festivals of night,
What glorious dazzling to the fight!
A fair angelic band maintains
Delightful watch o’er heavenly plains.

Why am I kept a prisoner here,
So distant from that happy sphere?
My heart’s on fire to reach the throne
Where Jesus reigns in bliss unknown.

Loosed from the binding chains of death,
Cheerful I yield my weary breath;
When all that’s mortal in me dies,
The soul shall soar above the skies.

W.D. Published in The Gospel Magazine, November 1766.