Occasional verse, moral and sacred Published for the instruction and amusement of the Candidly Serious and Religious [by Edward Perronet] |
THE SOUND AND ODOUR.
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Occasional verse, moral and sacred | ||
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THE SOUND AND ODOUR.
Altered from HERBERT.
I
How sweetly doth “my master” sound to me!More sweet than harp or harper's melody:
And to my taste more sweet than amber smell,
Or arab's spices—or what seers tell
Of sharon's rose—save that my master's He,
Who only can with sharon's rose agree.
II
With these by day I hold him sweet converse,And thro' the night my sleeping dreams rehearse:
Or wakeful muse—while murmurs every thought,
Till by communion into vision brought,
His form I view—His matchless features trace,
And think I see the godhead in His face.
III
My fluttering heart awaits His blissful smile,To bless my labours, and accept my toil;
For labour's rest and toil for Him is ease,
When him alone, and not myself, I please:
Thus pleas'd we're both—each plight our mutual word,
He calls me “Servant”—as I call Him, “lord.”
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IV
Yet ah! how short the service I can payOf His high worth! But this I'll do—I'll say,
‘master, I'm thine—and what more can I be;
‘If aught's beyond—this must depend on Thee:
‘To this I stand—do thou but say, “well done,”
‘And then we finish where we first begun!”
Occasional verse, moral and sacred | ||