Page:The poetical works of William Cowper (IA poeticalworksof00cowp).pdf/111

 "There, like streams that feed the garden,
 * Pleasures without end shall flow;

For the Lord, your faith rewarding,
 * All his bounty shall bestow;

Still in undisturbed possession
 * Peace and righteousness shall reign;

Never shall you feel oppression,
 * Hear the voice of war again.

Ye no more your suns descending,
 * Waning moons no more shall see;

But, your griefs, for ever ending,
 * Find eternal noon in me:

God shall rise, and shining o'er ye,
 * Change to day the gloom of night;

He, the Lord, shall be your glory,
 * God your everlasting light."

God! how perfect are thy ways!
 * But mine polluted are;

Sin twines itself about my praise,
 * And slides into my prayer.

When I would speak what thou hast done
 * To save me from my sin,

I cannot make thy mercies known,
 * But self-applause creeps in.

Divine desire, that holy flame
 * Thy grace creates in me;

Alas! impatience is its name,
 * When it returns to thee.

This heart, a fountain of vile thoughts,
 * How does it overflow,

While self upon the surface floats,
 * Still bubbling from below!

Let others in the gaudy dress
 * Of fancied merit shine;

The Lord shall be my righteousness,
 * The Lord for ever mine.

God! till I received thy stroke,
 * How like a beast was I!

So unaccustomed to the yoke,
 * So backward to comply.

With grief my just reproach I bear,
 * Shame fills me at the thought;

How frequent my rebellions were,
 * What wickedness I wrought.

Thy merciful restraint I scorned,
 * And left the pleasant road;

Yet turn me, and I shall be turned,
 * Thou art the Lord my God.

Is Ephraim banished from my thoughts,
 * Or vile in my esteem?

"No," saith the Lord, "with all his faults,
 * I shall remember him."

"Is he a dear and pleasant child?"
 * "Yes, dear and pleasant still;

Though sin his foolish heart beguiled,
 * And he withstood my will.

"My sharp rebuke has laid him low,
 * He seeks my face again;

My pity kindles at his woe,
 * He shall not seek in vain."

Lord proclaims his grace abroad!
 * "Behold, I change your hearts of stone;

Each shall renounce his idol-god,
 * And serve, henceforth, the Lord alone.

"My grace, a flowing stream, proceeds
 * To wash your filthiness away;

Ye shall abhor your former deeds,
 * And learn my statutes to obey.

"My truth the great design insures,
 * I give myself away to you;

You shall be mine, I will be yours,
 * Your God unalterably true.

"Yet not unsought, or unimplored,
 * The plenteous grace shall I confer;

No—your whole hearts shall seek the Lord,
 * I'll put a praying spirit there.

"From the first breath of life divine,
 * Down to the last expiring hour;

The gracious work shall all be mine,
 * Begun and ended in my power."