WHAT! tho' no objects strike upon the sight, Thy sacred presence is an @3inward@1 light! What! tho' no sounds should penetrate the ear, To list'ning thought the voice of truth is clear; Sincere devotion needs no outward shrine; The centre of a humble soul is thine! There may I worship! And there mayst thou place Thy seat of mercy, and thy throne of grace! Yea, fix, if Christ my Advocate appear, The dread tribunal of thy justice there: Let each vain thought, let each impure desire Meet, in thy wrath, with a @3consuming fire.@1 Whilst the kind rigours of a righteous doom All deadly filth of @3selfish pride@1 consume, Thou, Lord! canst raise, tho' punishing for sin, The joys of peaceful penitence within: Thy justice and thy mercy both are sweet, That make our @3suff'rings@1 and @3salvation@1 meet. Befall me, then, whatever God shall please! His wounds are healing, and his griefs give ease: He, like a true Physician of the soul, Applies the med'cine that may make it whole. I'll do, I'll @3suffer@1 whatsoe'er He wills; I see his aim thro' all these transient ills. 'Tis to infuse a @3salutary grief@1, To fit the mind for @3absolute@1 relief; That, purg'd from ev'ry false and finite love, Dead to the world, alive to things above, The soul may rise, as in its first-form'd youth, And worship God @3in Spirit and in Truth.@1 | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...TWO SONGS OF A FOOL: 2 by WILLIAM BUTLER YEATS ARIZONA POEMS: 2. MEXICAN QUARTER by JOHN GOULD FLETCHER ON AN ANNIVERSARY by JOHN MILLINGTON SYNGE AGAINST INDIFFERENCE by CHARLES WEBBE THE HISTORY OF THE WORLD: TRANSLATION by CAIUS PEDO ALBINOVANUS MR. BARNEY MAGUIRE'S ACCOUNT OF THE CORONATION by RICHARD HARRIS BARHAM LILIES: 13. 'LET US NEVER COMFORT EACH OTHER INTO SLEEP' by GEORGE BARLOW (1847-1913) |