The National Prayer. October 1840 Poem by Henry Alford

From our aisles of places holy,
From our dwellings calm and lowly,
On the autumn breezes slowly
Swells the sound of prayer:
God! before thy footstool bending,
Anxious crowds their heart--wish blending,
To thine heaven their vows are sending,--
Make our Queen thy care!

Brighter than our pomp and pleasure,
Precious above every treasure,
Dear beyond all human measure,
Is that life we love:
Saviour, slumbering not nor sleeping,
But thy watch in danger keeping,
Hear our prayer, receive our weeping,--
Guard her from above!