Henry Charles Beeching, ed. (1859–1919). Lyra Sacra: A Book of Religious Verse. 1903.
By Henry Vaughan (16221695)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. | |