The Minor Poems of Joseph Beaumont ... Edited from the autograph manuscript with introduction and notes by Eloise Robinson |
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The Relapse
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 | The Minor Poems of Joseph Beaumont |  |
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The Relapse
1
Wert Thou not what Thou art,O Lord of most unbounded LOVE;
This my rebellious Heart
Durst never prove
So bold as to implore
Thy Pardon any more,
Bycause my Boldnes hath so rampant been
Against thy mighty Mercy to my Sinn.
2
For have not I againResum'd that odious Vomit, which
Of late I did disdain?
Has not the Itch
Of fond Imaginations,
And fruitless Contemplations
Spred its unquiet Taint's unhappy powers
Over my calm & consecrated houres?
3
Has not my foolish MindeFoulie misplac'd its Sorrow, and
Been troubled more to finde
Thine angry Hand
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To see my Flood of Sinn,
Whose roaring Waves awak'd thy Wrath, which now
In woefull Streams of Blood about doth flow.
4
Has not my lavish BreastEmbrac'd my pretious Friend too close:
The thoughts of whome possest
Me so, that those
Which I design'd to be
Attending upon Thee
Were often justled out, whilst thus my faint
Devotions, from my God fell to my Saint.
5
O mighty SoverainOf Pittie, Loe my prostrate Heart
Lies trembling once again
Under thy Dart:
Strike, strike, & pierce it by
LOVES healing cruelty;
That by that blessed Wound my Soule may be
Sett ope, & bleed out every thing but Thee.
| The Minor Poems of Joseph Beaumont | |