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Original, serious, and religious poetry

by the Rev. Richard Cobbold

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 I. 
 II. 
 III. 
 IV. 
 V. 
 VI. 
REFLECTION VI.
  
 VII. 
  
 VIII. 
 IX. 
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 XIII. 
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 XX. 
 XXI. 
  
  
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16

REFLECTION VI.

O God of love! me think me what a sight
To see two armies marching to the fight,
Or men of war in full and awful sail,
Approaching dreadfully in gentle gale;
Yet far from gentle in themselves! O war!
Dread devastation; how thy horrors mar
The heart of feeling. Think thou, think thou man,
How honors come, where horrors have began.
Go to the death; go, fools, and wise, and free,
Give up your lives, and glory o'er the sea.
Strike the strong blow with well directed blade,
And send thy foeman to his fated shade;
Glory in conquests, glory in the life
Of horrid carnage, death devoted strife.

17

But when O God, shall influence divine,
Proclaim that Christians may at length be thine?
When shall wars cease? Ah when that moment strange,
When hearts of creatures undergo their change
From bad to good, from hate to love and light,
From war to peace? That moment, I invite!
O come! O come! our very souls arrange,
Commence O Spirit, this important change.