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Classic and Contemporary Poetry


CONSIDERATIONS by MATTHEW PRIOR

First Line: HEAVY, O LORD, ON ME THY JUDGMENTS LIE
Last Line: THOU THAT ART THE GOD OF LOVE.
Subject(s): DEATH; GOD; LIGHT; LOVE; NIGHT; DEAD, THE; BEDTIME;

HEAVY, O Lord, on me thy judgments lie,
Accursed I am, while God rejects my cry;
O'erwhelmed in darkness and despair I groan,
And every place is hell; for God is gone.
O Lord! arise, and let thy beams control
Those horrid clouds, that press my frighted soul;
Save the poor wanderer from eternal night,
Thou that art the God of light.

Downward I hasten to my destined place;
There none obtain thy aid, or sing thy praise.
Soon I shall lie in death's deep ocean drowned:
Is mercy there, or sweet forgiveness found;
O save me yet, whilst on the brink I stand,
Rebuke the storm, and waft my soul to land.
O let her rest beneath thy wing secure,
Thou that art the God of power.

Behold the prodigal, to thee I come,
To hail my father, and to seek my home!
Nor refuge could I find, nor friend abroad,
Straying in vice, and destitute of God.
O let thy terrors, and my anguish end!
Be thou my refuge, and be thou my friend;
Receive the son thou didst so long reprove,
Thou that art the God of love.



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