Contents -BIBLIOGRAPHIC RECORD

Henry Charles Beeching, ed. (1859–1919). Lyra Sacra: A Book of Religious Verse. 1903.

By Ben Jonson (1573?–1647)

An Hymn to God the Father

HEAR 1 me, O God!
A broken heart
Is my best part:
Use still Thy rod,
That I may prove	5
Therein Thy love.
If Thou hadst not
Been stern to me,
But left me free,
I had forgot	10
Myself and Thee.
For sin’s so sweet,
As minds ill bent
Rarely repent,
Until they meet	15
Their punishment.
Who more can crave
Than Thou hast done?
Thou gav’st a Son
To free a slave:	20
First made of nought,
Withal since bought.
Sin, death, and hell
His glorious name
Quite overcame;	25
Yet I rebel,
And slight the same.
But I’ll come in
Before my loss
Me farther toss,	30
As sure to win
Under His cross.

Note 1. Ben Jonson wrote very few religious poems, but these are the product of genuine feeling, if but little originality. [back]