Amid the splendour of the spring

Amid the splendour of the spring.Laura Ormiston Chant* (1848-1923).  This was published in several Methodist hymnals in the early years of the 20th century. It was also in the Fellowship Hymn Book (FHB, 1909). It was entitled ‘A Temperance Hymn’:  Amid the splendour of the spring, The glory of the flowers, The joyous songs the wild birds sing, One constant grief is ours: Grief for the homes no spring can reach, Hearts that no sun can cheer, Souls that no happy warblings teach The lesson of the year.  Where gloomy alleys thickly crowd, The children, pinched and pale, Hear angry voices harsh and loud, Hear suffering’s bitter wail; While the sweet daisied meads of God, Clad in...