Henry Charles Beeching, ed. (1859–1919). Lyra Sacra: A Book of Religious Verse. 1903.
By William Cowper (17311800)The Contrite Heart
THE LORD will happiness divine | |
On contrite hearts bestow; | |
Then tell me, gracious God, is mine | |
A contrite heart or no. | |
I hear, but seem to hear in vain, | 5 |
Insensible as steel; | |
If aught is felt, ’tis only pain, | |
To find I cannot feel. | |
My best desires are faint and few, | |
I fain would strive for more; | 10 |
But when I cry, “My strength renew!” | |
Seem weaker than before. | |
O make this heart rejoice or ache, | |
Decide this doubt for me; | |
And if it be not broken, break,— | 15 |
And heal it if it be. | |