Full of wonder, full of art,

Full of wisdom, full of power,

Full of grace to charm the heart,

Full of solace hour by hour,

Full of wonders, ye shall prove

Is the bond of wedded love.

Two who ne'er upon this earth

Have each other's faces seen,

Never from their hour of birth

In each other's thoughts have been,

Find their hearts and hands shall meet

In a bond God maketh sweet.

Here a father trains his child,

There another watches his:

Driven by winds uncertain, wild,

Sure their paths through life must miss;

Nay, but when the time is there,

See a well-consorted pair.

Here a prudent son has grown,

There a maid in virtue drest;

Each one is the other's crown,

Each the other's sweetest rest,

Each the other's joy and light,

But they know it not aright;

Till it pleaseth Him who holds

All the world within His hand,

Then the fated hour unfolds

All the joy that He hath planned,

And in act and deed we see

The long-hidden mystery.

Each one finds and each one takes

What the Highest for him chose;

For where Heaven the union makes

Vainly Earth would interpose;

And what Heaven hath bid befall

Wisely is ordained for all.

"This or that were otherwise

Better ordered," oft we say;

But as darkness fondly tries

E'er to match the glorious day,

So must fail our human sense

Scanning God's omnipotence.

Where He joins, Man, place no bar!

Well He knows who best should meet;

All our schemes blind errors mar,

His thought only is complete;

Only His work standeth fast,

When nought else endures the blast.

See the children of His love

Who in holy marriage dwell,

In what tranquil joy they move,

How their Father prospers well

All their work to happy ends,

And His blessing daily sends:

How their love ne'er fades away,

But in freshest beauty blooms,

When all other loves decay,

Other light is lost in glooms,

Other truth no more is true,

Still their constancy is new.

For that love hath hidden springs,

Where its youth is aye renewed;

Through their daily talk it sings,

Sweetens all their daily food,

Gives their hearts a quiet rest,

E'en when toil and care-opprest.

Comes there aught of pain and loss,

Yet this love is calm and still,

Cheerfully accepts the cross,

Thinks it is our Father's will,

Trusts the future time will bring

Brighter days upon its wing.

Thus through all their lifetime rolls

God's rich blessing like a stream,

Feeds their bodies, heals their souls,

Strengthens every prop and beam,

Makes the house once poor and small,

Rich and great and loved by all.

And at last, when all fulfilled

Are His purposes of love

Here on earth, He yet doth build

Fairer homes in heaven above,

Where enwrapt in His embrace

They shall know His depths of grace.

Full of grace to charm the heart,

Full of solace hour by hour,

Full of wonder, full of art,

Full of wisdom, full of power,

Full of wonders, ye shall prove,

Is the bond of wedded love.