L. Sir Walter Raleigh. The Crosse of Christ. Edward Farr, ed. 1847. Select Poetry, Chiefly Sacred, of the Reign of King James the First

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Edward Farr, ed. Select Poetry of the Reign of King James the First. 1847.

The Crosse of Christ

L. Sir Walter Raleigh


RISE, 1 O my soul, with thy desires to heaven,
And with divinest contemplation use
Thy time, where time’s eternity is given;
And let vain thoughts no more thy thoughts abuse,
But down in midnight darkness let them lie;	5
So live thy better, let thy worst thoughts die.

And thou, my soul, inspired with holy flame,
View and review, with most regardful eie,
That holy crosse whence thy salvation came,
On which thy Saviour and thy sin did die;	10
For in that sacred object is much pleasure,
And in that Saviour is my life, my treasure.

To thee, O Jesu! I direct mine eies,
To thee my hands, to thee my humble knees;
To thee my heart shall offer sacrifice,	15
To thee my thoughts, who my thoughts only sees;
To thee myself—myself and all, I give;
To thee I die, to thee I only live.

Note 1. L. Sir Walter Raleigh.—The poem annexed to this celebrated name is claimed for Sir Walter Raleigh by Sir Egerton Brydges, on the authority of the signature “Ignoto;” a signature generally used by him. Sir Egerton Brydges remarks: “If we admit this to be Raleigh’s, what shall we say to the foul charge of Atheism, or even Deism, which has been made against him. The second and third stanzas are vigorous and sublime.”
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