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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| I. | I. THE HOLY COMMUNION. |
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 | The complete works in verse and prose of George Herbert |  |
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.
| The complete works in verse and prose of George Herbert | |