| Henry Charles Beeching, ed. (1859–1919). Lyra Sacra: A Book of Religious Verse. 1903. | | | | An Hymn to God the Father | | By Ben Jonson (1573?–1647) |
| | | HEAR 1 me, O God! | |
| A broken heart | |
| Is my best part: | |
| Use still Thy rod, | |
| That I may prove | 5 |
| Therein Thy love. | |
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| If Thou hadst not | |
| Been stern to me, | |
| But left me free, | |
| I had forgot | 10 |
| Myself and Thee. | |
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| For sin’s so sweet, | |
| As minds ill bent | |
| Rarely repent, | |
| Until they meet | 15 |
| Their punishment. | |
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| Who more can crave | |
| Than Thou hast done? | |
| Thou gav’st a Son | |
| To free a slave: | 20 |
| First made of nought, | |
| Withal since bought. | |
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| Sin, death, and hell | |
| His glorious name | |
| Quite overcame; | 25 |
| Yet I rebel, | |
| And slight the same. | |
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| But I’ll come in | |
| Before my loss | |
| Me farther toss, | 30 |
| As sure to win | |
| Under His cross. | |
| | | Note 1. Ben Jonson wrote very few religious poems, but these are the product of genuine feeling, if but little originality. [back] | | |
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