The complete works in verse and prose of George Herbert For the first time fully collected and collated with the original and early editions and mss. and much enlarged with I. Hitherto unprinted and inedited poems and prose from the Williams mss. etc. II. Translation of the whole of the Latin and Greek verse and Latin prose. III. Memorial-introduction, essay on life and writings, and notes and illustrations. IV. In quarto, portraits on steel, and other specially-prepared illustrations and facsimiles. Edited by the Rev. Alexander B. Grosart ... In three volumes [in The Fuller Worthies' Library] |
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Vol. II. Verse.
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 | The complete works in verse and prose of George Herbert |  |
II. Vol. II. Verse.
21
I. THE HOLY COMMUNION.
O Gratious Lord, how shall I know
Whether in these gifts Thou bee so
As Thou art everywhere?
Or rather so, as Thou alone
Tak'st all ye Lodging, leaving none
For Thy poore creature there.
Whether in these gifts Thou bee so
As Thou art everywhere?
Or rather so, as Thou alone
Tak'st all ye Lodging, leaving none
For Thy poore creature there.
First I am sure, whether bread stay,
Or whether Bread doe fly away,
Concerneth Bread, not mee;
But yt both Thou and all Thy traine
Bee there, to Thy truth and my gaine
Concerneth mee and Thee.
Or whether Bread doe fly away,
Concerneth Bread, not mee;
But yt both Thou and all Thy traine
Bee there, to Thy truth and my gaine
Concerneth mee and Thee.
And if in comming to Thy foes,
Thou dost come first to them, yt showes
The hast of Thy good will;
Or if that Thou two stations makest,
In Bread and mee, the way Thou takest
Is more, but for mee still.
Thou dost come first to them, yt showes
The hast of Thy good will;
Or if that Thou two stations makest,
In Bread and mee, the way Thou takest
Is more, but for mee still.
Then of this also I am sure,
That Thou didst all these pains endure
T'abolish Sinn, not Wheat;
Creatures are good, and have their place;
Sinn onely, wch did all deface,
Thou drivest from his seat.
That Thou didst all these pains endure
T'abolish Sinn, not Wheat;
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Sinn onely, wch did all deface,
Thou drivest from his seat.
I could beleeve an Impanation
At the rate of an Incarnation,
If Thou hadst dyde for Bread;
But that wch made my soule to dye,
My flesh and fleshy villany,
That allso made Thee dead.
At the rate of an Incarnation,
If Thou hadst dyde for Bread;
But that wch made my soule to dye,
My flesh and fleshy villany,
That allso made Thee dead.
That flesh is there mine eyes deny:
And what shold flesh but flesh discry—
The noblest sence of five?
If glorious bodies pass the sight,
Shall they be food and strength and might,
Euen there where they deceiue?
And what shold flesh but flesh discry—
The noblest sence of five?
If glorious bodies pass the sight,
Shall they be food and strength and might,
Euen there where they deceiue?
Into my soule this cannot pass;
Flesh, though exalted, keeps his grass,
And cannot turn to soule.
Bodyes and Minds are different spheres;
Nor can they change their bounds and meres,
But keep a constant Pole.
Flesh, though exalted, keeps his grass,
And cannot turn to soule.
Bodyes and Minds are different spheres;
Nor can they change their bounds and meres,
But keep a constant Pole.
This gift of all gifts is the best,
Thy flesh the least yt I request;
Thou took'st that pledg from mee:
Give me not that I had before,
Or give me that so I have more;
My God, give mee all Thee.
Thy flesh the least yt I request;
Thou took'st that pledg from mee:
Give me not that I had before,
Or give me that so I have more;
My God, give mee all Thee.
23
II. LOVE.
Thou art too hard for me in Love;
There is no dealing wth Thee in that Art,
That is Thy Masterpeece, I see.
When I contrive and plott to prove
Something that may be conquest on my part,
Thou still, O Lord, outstrippest mee.
There is no dealing wth Thee in that Art,
That is Thy Masterpeece, I see.
When I contrive and plott to prove
Something that may be conquest on my part,
Thou still, O Lord, outstrippest mee.
Sometimes, when as I wash, I say,
And shrodely as I think, ‘Lord, wash my soule,
More spotted then my Flesh can bee.’
But then there comes into my way
Thy ancient baptism, wch when I was foule
And knew it not, yet cleansèd mee.
And shrodely as I think, ‘Lord, wash my soule,
More spotted then my Flesh can bee.’
But then there comes into my way
Thy ancient baptism, wch when I was foule
And knew it not, yet cleansèd mee.
I took a time when Thou didst sleep,
Great waves of trouble combating my brest:
I thought it braue to praise Thee then;
Yet then I found that Thou didst creep
Into my hart wth ioye, giving more rest
Than flesh did Lend Thee back agen.
Great waves of trouble combating my brest:
I thought it braue to praise Thee then;
Yet then I found that Thou didst creep
Into my hart wth ioye, giving more rest
Than flesh did Lend Thee back agen.
Let mee but once the conquest have
Vpon ye matter, 'twill Thy conquest prove:
If Thou subdue mortalitie,
Thou dost no more than doth ye graue;
Whereas if I orecome Thee and Thy love,
Hell, Death, and Divel come short of mee.
Vpon ye matter, 'twill Thy conquest prove:
If Thou subdue mortalitie,
Thou dost no more than doth ye graue;
Whereas if I orecome Thee and Thy love,
Hell, Death, and Divel come short of mee.
24
III. TRINITY SUNDAY.
He that is oneIs none;
Two reacheth Thee
In some degree:
Nature and Grace
Wth Glory may attaine Thy Face.
Steele and a flint strike fire;
Witt and desire
Never to Thee aspire,
Except life catch and hold those fast.
That wch beleefe
Did not confess in ye first Theefe
His fall can tell
From Heaven through Earth to Hell.
Lett two of those alone
To them that fall,
Who God and Saints and Angels loose at last:
Hee that has one
Has all.
IV. EUEN-SONG.
The Day is spent, and hath his will on mee:
I and ye Sunn haue runn our races:
I went ye slower, yet more paces;
For I decay, not hee.
I and ye Sunn haue runn our races:
I went ye slower, yet more paces;
For I decay, not hee.
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Lord, make my Loss vp, and sett mee free,
That I, who cannot now by day
Look on his daring brightnes, may
Shine then more bright then hee.
That I, who cannot now by day
Look on his daring brightnes, may
Shine then more bright then hee.
If Thou deferr this light, then shadow mee,
Least that the Night, earth's gloomy shade,
Fouling her nest, my earth invade,
As if shades knew not Thee.
Least that the Night, earth's gloomy shade,
Fouling her nest, my earth invade,
As if shades knew not Thee.
But Thou art Light and darkness both togeather:
If that bee dark we cannot see,
The sunn is darker then a Tree,
And Thou more dark then either.
If that bee dark we cannot see,
The sunn is darker then a Tree,
And Thou more dark then either.
Yet Thou art not so dark since I know this,
But that my darknes may touch Thine;
And hope that may teach it to shine,
Since Light Thy darknes is.
But that my darknes may touch Thine;
And hope that may teach it to shine,
Since Light Thy darknes is.
O lett my Soule, whose keyes I must deliver
Into the hands of senceles dreames,
Wch know not Thee, suck in Thy beames,
And wake wth Thee for ever.
Into the hands of senceles dreames,
Wch know not Thee, suck in Thy beames,
And wake wth Thee for ever.
V. THE KNELL.
The Bell doth tolle:Lord, help Thy servant, whose perplexèd Soule
Doth wishly look
On either hand,
26
Strugling on th'hook.
Now is the season,
Now ye great combat of our flesh and reason:
O help, my God;
See, they break in,
Disbanded humours, sorrows, troops of Sinn,
Each wth his rodd.
Lord, make Thy Blood
Convert and colour all the other flood
And streams of grief,
That they may bee
Julips and cordials when we call on Thee
For some relief.
VI. PERSEVERANCE.
My God, ye poore expressions of my Love,
Wch warme these lines and serve them vp to Thee,
Are so as for the present I did moue,
Or rather as Thou mouèdst mee.
Wch warme these lines and serve them vp to Thee,
Are so as for the present I did moue,
Or rather as Thou mouèdst mee.
But what shall issue, whether these my words
Shal help another, but my iudgment bee;
As a burst fouling-peece doth saue ye birds,
But kill the man, is seald wth Thee.
Shal help another, but my iudgment bee;
As a burst fouling-peece doth saue ye birds,
But kill the man, is seald wth Thee.
For who can tell, though Thou hast dyde to winn
And wedd my soule in glorious paradise,
Whither my many crymes and vse of sinn
May yet forbid the banes and bliss?
And wedd my soule in glorious paradise,
Whither my many crymes and vse of sinn
May yet forbid the banes and bliss?
27
Onely my soule hangs on Thy promises,
Wth face and hands clinging vnto Thy brest;
Clinging and crying, crying wthout cease,
‘Thou art my Rock, Thou art my Rest.’
Wth face and hands clinging vnto Thy brest;
Clinging and crying, crying wthout cease,
‘Thou art my Rock, Thou art my Rest.’
| The complete works in verse and prose of George Herbert | |