The Works of the Reverend and Learned Isaac Watts, D. D. Containing, besides his Sermons, and Essays on miscellaneous subjects, several additional pieces, Selected from his Manuscripts by the Rev. Dr. Jennings, and the Rev. Dr. Doddridge, in 1753: to which are prefixed, memoirs of the life of the author, compiled by the Rev. George Burder. In six volumes |
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 | The Works of the Reverend and Learned Isaac Watts, D. D. |  |
Happy Frailty.
I
‘How meanly dwells th'immortal mind!‘How vile these bodies are!
‘Why was a clod of earth design'd
‘T'inclose a heav'nly star?
II
‘Weak cottage where our souls reside!‘This flesh a tott'ring wall;
‘With frightful breaches gaping wide
‘The building bends to fall.
III
‘All round it storms of trouble blow,‘And waves of sorrow roll;
‘Cold waves and winter's storms beat through,
‘And pain the tenant soul.
IV
‘Alas! how frail our state!’ said I;And thus went mourning on,
Till sudden from the cleaving sky
A gleam of glory shone.
V
My soul all felt the glory come,And breath'd her native air;
Then she remember'd heav'n her home,
And she a pris'ner here.
VI
Straight she began to change her key,And joyful in her pains,
She sung the frailty of her clay
In pleasurable strains.
VII
‘How weak the pris'n is where I dwell!‘Flesh but a tott'ring wall
‘The breaches cheerfully foretel,
‘The house must shortly fall.
VIII
‘No more, my friends, shall I complain,‘Tho' all my heart-strings ache;
‘Welcome disease, and ev'ry pain,
‘That makes the cottage shake.
IX
‘Now let the tempest blow all round,‘Now swell the surges high,
‘And beat this house of bondage down,
‘To let the stranger fly.
X
‘I have a mansion built above‘By the eternal hand;
‘And should the earth's old basis move,
‘My heav'nly house must stand.
XI
‘Yes, for 'tis there my Saviour reigns,‘(I long to see the God)
‘And his immortal strength sustains
‘The courts that cost him blood.’
XII
Hark, from on high my Saviour calls:‘I come, my Lord, my love:’
Devotion breaks the prison walls,
And speeds my last remove.
| The Works of the Reverend and Learned Isaac Watts, D. D. | |