When you pray, go into your most private room, close the door and pray to your Father who is in secret, and your Father who sees [what is done] in secret will reward you.
Matthew 6:6
Words: Thomas Moore, Sacred Songs 1816.
Music: Devotion (Browne) E. C. L. Browne, in the Hymn and Tune Book (Boston, Massachusetts: American Unitarian Association, 1868), number 736 (🔊 pdf nwc).
If you know Browne’s full name, or where to get a good picture of him (head & shoulders, at least 200×300 pixels),
As down in the sunless retreats of the ocean,
Sweet flowers are springing no mortal can see,
So, deep in my soul the still prayer of devotion,
Unheard by the world, rises silent to Thee,
My God! silent to Thee—
Pure, warm, silent, to Thee,
As still to the star of its worship, tho’ clouded,
The needle points faithfully o’er the dim sea,
So, dark as I roam, in this wintry world shrouded,
The hope of my spirit turns trembling to Thee,
My God! trembling, to Thee—
True, fond, trembling, to Thee.