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

By Henry Vaughan (1622–1695)

Desert

 
I HAVE deserved a thick Egyptian damp,
            Dark as my deeds,
Should mist within me, and put out that lamp
            Thy spirit feeds;
A darting conscience full of stabs and fears,        5
            No shade but yew,
Sullen and sad eclipses, cloudy spheres,
            These are my due.
But He that with His blood, a price too dear,
            My scores did pay,        10
Bid me, by virtue from Him, challenge here
            The brightest day;
Sweet, downy thoughts, soft lily-shades, calm streams,
            Joys full and true,
Fresh spicy mornings and eternal beams,        15
            These are His due.