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

By Henry Vaughan (1622–1695)

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.