All things desires and loves are vain – Modernized Edition

All things, desires, and loves are vain,
          But only that which tends
To God alone our chiefest good,
          And all things else transcends.
My soul therefore by this sweet Love
          shall day and night aspire, 
And rest in God (all things above)
          My Love and life’s desire. 
And while I live, I’ll never cease
          To languish¹Lose or lack vitality. for his Love,
Breathing, and sighing after him, 
          Till he my life remove. 
For since I am not where I love, 
          How can I comfort find, 
But only in the song of Love
          By Love to me assign’d?
And wheresoe’er²Wheresoever. this word³In the 1658 edition, “love” is printed above “word.” is writ,
          It yields a silver sound;
But if that word I miss in it,
          Methinks I want my ground.
Nothing so simple can be penned
          If it but treat of Love,
But that it serveth in some sort
          My sadness to remove.
And shall my soul by senseless love,
          Which yet is never true, 
Bestow more love where it is lost, 
          Than wheret is only due?
O no my God, but rather let
          Such folly be to me
A means to urge my sinful soul
          To Love more fervently! 
And henceforth let me draw no breath, 
          But to aspire by Love
To thee my God, and all my good
          By whom I live and move.⁴“For in him we live and move and have our being. As some of your own poets have said, We are his offspring” (Acts 17:28, Douay-Rheims Bible). 
No Stag in chase so thirsty is,
          Or greedy of sweet spring, 
As is my soul of thee my God
While I here sighing sing.⁵“As the hart panteth after the fountains of water; so my soul panteth after thee, O God. My soul hath thirsted after the strong living God; when shall I come and appear before the face of God?” (Psalm 41:2-3, Douay-Rheims Bible).
          My soul, where is thy Love, and Lord,
Since him thou canst not find?⁶“By night on my bed I sought him whom my soul loveth: I sought him, but I found him not. I will rise now, and go about the city in the streets, and in the broad ways I will seek him whom my soul loveth: I sought him, but I found him not” (Canticles 3:1-2, Douay-Rheims Bible).
          O cheer up, heart, be comforted,
For he is in thy mind!
          To him relation thou may’st have, 
As often as thou goes
          Into the closet⁷“It was but a little that I passed from them, but I found him whom my soul loveth: I held him, and would not let him go, until I had brought him into my mother’s house, and into the chamber of her that conceived me” (Canticles 3:4, Douay-Rheims Bible). of thy heart, 
Thy griefs for to disclose.
          As silly Lambs from ravening Wolves
For help to Shepherds fly,⁸“Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves” (Matthew 7:15, Douay-Rheims Bible). 
          So shall my soul in every case
For help and counsel hie⁹Hasten.
          To thee my God by humble Prayer, 
In hope, and confidence,
          That thou my Lord wilt succour¹⁰Help. me,
And be my soul’s defense.
          And seeing that my God is rich,
How can I say I’m poor?
          And he more mine, than I mine own:
What can I wish for more?
          And in his Majesty and power,
Much more I will rejoice,
          Than if of all in heaven and earth
I had command, and choice.
          My God one thing alone thou know’st
I fear and apprehend, 
          Which is my Lord for to displease, 
Whose mercies have no end.
          From all that do displease thine eyes, 
Be pleased to set me free, 
          For nothing else in heaven or earth 
Do I desire but thee. 
          And let me rather death embrace, 
Than thee my God offend, 
Or in my heart to give thy place
          To any other friend. 
Nothing would grieve my soul so much,
          As in me to perceive
Any affection in the world
          That thine would me bereave.¹¹Deprive of.
I know thou must possess alone, 
          Or else we are not thine
In such good plight as we should be, 
          If light to us did shine, 
As thou desirest it should do
          By grace our souls within;
For which are all the helps we have
          Intended, and have been
Imparted, and bestowed by thee, 
          That we might live alone
To thee who satiat’st pure souls
          With joys that are unknown.
And woe to them a thousand times, 
          Who interest have in any,¹²The text has a manicule pointing to this line.
Or have divided hearts to thee,
          After thy gifts so many.
For thou hast purchased our love
          At too, too dear a rate, 
To have a partner in our heart, 
          Which justly thou dost hate. 
O this thy wrong makes Angels blush,
          O, make it far from me
Since that I am both body and soul
          All consecrate to thee!¹³A reference to the sacred vows that More took when she became a nun.
And I also will grieve with them, 
          To see thee have such wrong 
From souls selected by thyself
          To sing with them the song
Of Love, and praise to thee, O God,
          And even in this place
To Contemplate thee, as we may, 
          O sweet and happy grace!
If we would die unto ourselves
          And all things else but thee,
It would be natural to our souls
          For to ascend, and be
United to our Center dear, 
          To which our souls would hie,
Being as proper then to us, 
          As fire to upwards fly.
O let us therefore love my God, 
          For Love pertains to him, 
And let our souls seek nothing else, 
          But in this Love to swim, 
Till we absorbed by his sweet Love
          Return from whom we came, 
Where we shall melt into that Love, 
          Which joyeth me to name. 
And never can I it too much
          Speak of, or it desire,
Since that my God, who’s Love itself, 
          Doth only Love require.
Come therefore all, and let us love
          And with a pure aspect, 
Regard our God in all we do, 
          And he will us protect. 
O that all things upon the earth, 
          Re-echoed with thy praise 
My everlasting glorious God, 
          The Ancient of days!¹⁴“I beheld therefore in the vision of the night, and lo, one like the son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and he came even to the Ancient of days: and they presented him before him” (Daniel 7:13, Douay-Rheims Bible).
And it I wish with all my soul
          Incessantly to sing;
But seeing this I cannot do, 
          My sighs to heaven shall ring;
Yea, if I writ out all the sea,
          Yet could I not express
The joy and comfort I do feel
          In what thou dost possess. 
No gifts or grace nor comforts here
          How great soe’er¹⁵Soever. they be, 
Can satiate¹⁶Satisfy. my longing soul, 
          While I possess not thee. 
For thou art all my heart’s desire, 
          Yea, all that I do crave, 
In earth or heaven now and ever
          Thou art all that I would have. 
And I do wish with all my soul, 
          That to thee I could pray, 
With all my heart and all my strength
          Ten thousand times a day. 
Let peoples, tribes, and tongues confess¹⁷“For it is written: As I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God” (Romans 14:11, Douay-Rheims Bible).
          Unto thy Majesty;
And let us never cease to sing
          Sanctus, Sanctus¹⁸“Holy, holy”; a reference to a hymn sung during the Mass. to thee.