Sweet is the pray­er whose ho­ly stream
In ear­nest plead­ing flows:
Devotion dwells up­on the theme,
And warm and warm­er grows

Faith grasps the bless­ing she de­sires,
Hope points the up­ward gaze;
And Love, ce­les­ti­al Love, in­spires
The elo­quence of praise.

But sweet­er far the still small voice
Unheard by hu­man ear,
When God has made the heart re­joice,
And dried the bit­ter tear.

No ac­cents flow, no words as­cend;
All ut­ter­ance fail­eth there;
But God Him­self doth com­pre­hend
And an­swer si­lent pray­er.