Poems

Poems List

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George Herbert
George Herbert

The Holdfast

The Holdfast

I threatened to observe the strict decree
Of my deare God with all my power and might:
But I was told by one, `It could not be;

296
George Herbert
George Herbert

The H. Communion

The H. Communion

Not in rich furniture, or fine array,
Nor in a wedge of gold,
Thou, who from me wast sold,
To me dost now thy self conve…

245
George Herbert
George Herbert

The Dawning

The Dawning

Awake, sad heart, whom sorrow ever drowns ;
Take up thine eyes, which feed on earth ;
Unfold thy forehead, gathered into frowns ;

264
George Herbert
George Herbert

The Flower

The Flower

How fresh, O Lord, how sweet and clean
Are thy returns! ev'n as the flowers in spring;
To which, besides their own demean,
The…

273
George Herbert
George Herbert

The Call

The Call

Come, my Way, my Truth, my Life :
Such a Way, as gives us breath :
Such a Truth, as ends all strife :
And such a Life, as killet…

246
George Herbert
George Herbert

The Altar

The Altar

A broken ALTAR, Lord, thy servant rears,

Made of a heart and cemented with tears;
Whose parts are as thy hand did frame;

234
George Herbert
George Herbert

The Affliction (I)

The Affliction (I)

When first thou didst entice to thee my heart,
I thought the service brave;
So many joys I writ down for my part,

260
George Herbert
George Herbert

Sonnet (II)

Sonnet (II)

O

Sure Lord, there is enough in thee to dry
Oceans of Ink ; for, as the Deluge did
Cover the Earth, so doth thy Majes…

259
George Herbert
George Herbert

Sin (I)

Sin (I)

Lord, with what care hast Thou begirt us round!
Parents first season us; then schoolmasters
Deliver us to laws; -they send us bound

268
George Herbert
George Herbert

Sin's Round

Sin's Round

Sorry I am, my God, sorry I am,
That my offences course it in a ring.
My thoughts are working like a busy flame,
Until their …

248
George Herbert
George Herbert

Repentance

Repentance


Lord, I confess my sin is great;
Great is my sin. Oh! gently treat
With thy quick flow'r, thy momentany bloom;
Whose l…

308
George Herbert
George Herbert

Sighs And Groans

Sighs And Groans

O do not use me
After my sins! look not on my dessert,
But on your glory! Then you will reform
And not refuse me: for yo…

249
George Herbert
George Herbert

Prayer

Prayer


Prayer the Churches banquet, Angels age,
Gods breath in man returning to his birth,
The soul in paraphrase, heart in pilgramage, <…

249
George Herbert
George Herbert

Providence

Providence


O Sacred Providence, who from end to end
Strongly and sweetly movest! shall I write,
And not of thee, through whom my fingers …

286
George Herbert
George Herbert

Peace

Peace


Sweet Peace, where dost thou dwell? I humbly crave,
Let me once know.
I sought thee in a secret cave,
And ask'd, if Peace w…

272
George Herbert
George Herbert

Mortification

Mortification


How soon doth man decay!
When clothes are taken from a chest of sweets
To swaddle infants, whose young breath
Scarc…

273
George Herbert
George Herbert

Man's Medley

Man's Medley

Hark, how the birds do sing,
and woods do ring.
All creatures have their joy: and man hath his.
Yet if we rightly measure, <…

246
George Herbert
George Herbert

Love (III)

Love (III)

Love bade me welcome: yet my soul drew back,
Guilty of dust and sin.
But quick-ey'd Love, observing me grow slack,
From my fir…

326
George Herbert
George Herbert

Love (I)

Love (I)

Immortal love, authour of this great frame,
Sprung from that beautie which can never fade;
How hath man parcel’d out thy glorious name, …

270
George Herbert
George Herbert

Life

Life


I made a posie, while the day ran by:
Here will I smell my remnant out, and tie
My life within this band.
But time did becke…

286
George Herbert
George Herbert

Jordan

Jordan


Who says that fictions only and false hair
Become a verse? Is there in truth no beauty?
Is all good structure in a winding stair? …

212
George Herbert
George Herbert

Joseph's Coat

Joseph's Coat

Wounded I sing, tormented I indite,
Thrown down I fall into a bed, and rest:
Sorrow hath chang'd its note: such is his will

236
George Herbert
George Herbert

Grace

Grace


My stock lies dead and no increase
Doth my dull husbandry improve:
O let thy graces without cease
Drop from above!

259
George Herbert
George Herbert

H. Baptism

H. Baptism
As he that sees a dark and shady grove,
Stays not, but looks beyond it on the sky;
So when I view my sins, mine eyes remove
More backw…

243