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...SONNETS FROM THE PORTUGUESE: 39 by ELIZABETH BARRETT BROWNING TALES OF A WAYSIDE INN: THE FIRST DAY: PRELUDE. THE WAYSIDE INN by HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW ECLOGUE: TWO FARMS IN WOONE by WILLIAM BARNES ON THE DEATH OF MR. JAMES VALENTINE by JAMES HAY BEATTIE THE COYOTE CHORUS by ANNE BIRDSALL HIS MOTHER'S FACE by ELIZABETH BARRETT BROWNING |