The poetical works of Thomas Traherne faithfully reprinted from the author's original manuscript together with Poems of Felicity reprinted from the Burney manuscript and Poems from Various Sources: Edited with preface and notes by Gladys I. Wade |
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I.
Those stately Structures which on Earth I view
To GOD erected, whether Old or New;
His Sacred Temples which the World adorn,
Much more than Mines of Ore or Fields of Corn,
My Soul delight: How do they pleas mine Ey
When they are fill'd with His Great Family!
Upon the face of all the peepl'd Earth
There's no such sacred Joy or solemn Mirth,
To pleas and satisfy my Heart's Desire,
As that wherwith my Lord is in a Quire,
In holy Hymns by warbling Voices prais'd,
With Eys lift up, and joint Affections rais'd.
To GOD erected, whether Old or New;
His Sacred Temples which the World adorn,
Much more than Mines of Ore or Fields of Corn,
My Soul delight: How do they pleas mine Ey
When they are fill'd with His Great Family!
Upon the face of all the peepl'd Earth
There's no such sacred Joy or solemn Mirth,
To pleas and satisfy my Heart's Desire,
As that wherwith my Lord is in a Quire,
In holy Hymns by warbling Voices prais'd,
With Eys lift up, and joint Affections rais'd.
The Arches built (like Hev'n) wide and high
Shew his Magnificence and Majesty
Whose House it is: With so much Art and Cost
The Pile is fram'd, the curious Knobs embost,
Set off with Gold, that me it more doth pleas
Than Princes Courts or Royal Palaces;
Great Stones pil'd up by costly Labors there
Like Mountains carv'd by human Skill appear;
Where Towers, Pillars, Pinnacles, and Spires
Do all concur to match my great Desires,
Whose Joy it is to see such Structures rais'd
To th' end my God and Father should be prais'd.
Shew his Magnificence and Majesty
Whose House it is: With so much Art and Cost
The Pile is fram'd, the curious Knobs embost,
Set off with Gold, that me it more doth pleas
Than Princes Courts or Royal Palaces;
Great Stones pil'd up by costly Labors there
Like Mountains carv'd by human Skill appear;
Where Towers, Pillars, Pinnacles, and Spires
Do all concur to match my great Desires,
Whose Joy it is to see such Structures rais'd
To th' end my God and Father should be prais'd.
| The poetical works of Thomas Traherne | |