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My God, to thee I dedicate
This simple work of mine,
And with it also heart and soul
To be for ever thine;
No other motive I will have,
But by it thee to praise,
And to stir up my frozen soul
By love itself to raise.
All things, desires, & 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 languish for his love,
Breathing and sighing after him
Till he my life remove;
For since I live not where I love,
How can I comfort find,
But only in the song of love
By love to me assigned?
In whatsoe’er this word is writ,
It yields a silver sound;
But if this 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 misery to remove.
And shall my soul by senseless love
Which yet was never true,
Have giv’n more love where it was lost
Than where it’s only due?
O no, my God, but rather let
This 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;
No stag in chase so thirsty is,
Or greedy of sweet spring,
As is my soul of thee, my God,
Whilst here I sighing sing.
My soul, where is thy love & Lord,
Since him thou canst not find?
O cheer up, heart, be comforted,
For he is in thy mind;
To him relation one may have,
As often as he goes
Into the closet of his heart,
His griefs for to disclose.
As silly lambs from ravening wolves
For help to shepherds fly,
So shall my soul in every case
For help and counsel hie
To thee, my God, by humble prayer
In hope and confidence,
That thou, my Lord, wilt succour me
And be my soul’s defense.
For seeing that my God is rich,
How can I say I’m poor?
He is more mine than I my 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.
O I desire no tongue nor pen,
But to extol his praise,
In which excess I’ll melt away
Ten thousand, thousand ways;
And as one that is sick with love
Engrafts in every tree
The names and praise of them they love,
So shall it be with me.
Which to attempt if it seem much
To those that it espy,
Saying tis only for the just,
To thee for help to fly;
What then becomes of sinners poor,
Or to whom shall they go,
If not to thee? Ah, pity us,
For we may love also.
Jesus did publicans receive,
Nor yet did he disdain
Harlots[15][/mfn] and thieves that begged help,
Since which who can complain,
Or fear that he will them reject
When they their sins repent,
And fly unto his mercy sweet,
Whose heart doth soon relent?
When we with tears beseech him to
Forgive our sins so many,
And give such grace & strength henceforth
As not to yield to any;
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 doth displease thy 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 leave a place
For any other friend.
Nothing would grieve my soul so much,
As in me to perceive
That th’ affection to the world
Should me of thine bereave;
I know thou must possess alone,
Or else we are not thine
In manner such as we should be,
If light to us do shine.
As thou desirest it should do
By grace within our hearts,
And all the helps that thou hast giv’n,
And dayly yet imparts
To us, intended were by thee,
That we might live alone
To thee, our God who fills pure souls
With joys that are unknown.
And woe to them a thousand times,
Who int’rest have in any,
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 I am both body and soul
Consecrated to thee;
And I will also grieve with them,
To see thee have such wrong
From souls culled out by thee thyself
To sing with them the song
Of love and praise to thee, our God,
And even in this place
Thee to contemplate in our manner,
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 soul would hie,
Being as proper then for us
As fire upwards to fly.
O let us therefore love my God,
For love pertains to him,
And let our souls seek nothing else,
But in thy love to swim,
Till we, absorbed by his sweet love,
Return from whence 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
Echoed with thy praise,
My everlasting glorious God,
The ancient of days.
And I do wish withall my soul
Perpetually to sing,
But seeing this I cannot do,
My sighs to heaven shall ring;
Yea, if I writ out all the sea,
Yet can I not express
The joy and comfort I do feel
In what thou dost possess.
No gifts or grace, or comfort here,
How great soe’er they be,
Can satiate my longing soul,
Whilst I possess not thee;
For thou art all my heart’s desire,
Yea, all that I do crave
In heaven or earth, yea, now or ever,
Th’art all my soul 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 people, tribes, and tongues confess
Unto thy majesty,
And let us never cease to sing
Sanctus, sanctus to thee.
Who be adored by ancients all,
Whose crowns lie at thy feet
As justice doth require they should,
And as it is most meet;
And we invited by thy saints
And angels thee to praise,
Will join with them with voices high
Our souls by love to raise
To thee, of whom I’ll never crave
Whilst this my soul hath breath,
But that I may united be
To thee in life and death;
My God, my love and very life,
My glory and my crown,
My light shall only tend to this,
To joy in thy renown.
O let me, as the silver streams
Into the ocean glide,
Melt into that vast sea of love
Which into thee doth slide!
The little birds do chirp and sing,
And never weary be
Of praising my Creator dear,
And I scarce think on thee.
But what I cannot by myself
Accomplish in this kind,
I’ll beg of thy celestial court.
Who to this is assigned
By thy all-living, loving self,
To whom all love is due,
To whom my heart hath been most false,
Or rather never true.
The which remembering, my poor soul
Doth even fail and faint,
As any would, that here should find
Me out, my sins to paint;
But thou thyself doth say to us,
Thou wilt not sinners’ death,
But that we do convert and live
Even while our souls have breath.
And no more then to cease to be,
No more canst thou refuse
To pardon humble penitents
That do themselves accuse;
Being no person thou excepts,
All having cost thee dear,
Yea, even thy own life itself.
How can I therefore fear?
If ever yet thou hadst disdained
Sinners that fled to thee,
Then had I little cause of hope,
But this none yet did see;
For if they do return to thee,
Thy heart thou wilt not close,
As witness can my wretched soul,
That was so like to lose.
All grace and goodness (if thou hadst
Not with thy help prevented),
By sins that would by bloody tears
Be while I live lamented;
If I as grateful were to thee
As thou deservest I should,
Or as another in my case
Unto thy mercy would.
And all that time thou livedst here,
Thou many ways didst show
That none should be refused by thee,
Who didst with mercy flow;
And this my wicked heart did find,
Who after sins so many.
Have found much favor in thy eyes,
Without deserving any.
O blessed ever be my God
For this preventing grace,
Which I unworthy have received
In this most happy place;
I fled from thee by many sins,
And thou didst follow me,
As if my misery would have caused
Some detriment to thee.
How can this choose but wound my heart
When I remember it,
And ever serve to humble me
Whilst at thy feet I sit?
From whence my Lord, & my God, & all,
Permit me not to rise,
Till I do love thee as thou wouldst,
The which doth all comprise.
For as thou knowest, all other loves
But thine I do defy,
And let this love by thy sweet grace
Possess me totally.
All others for thy sake I love
With equal charity;
Only where obligation claims,
Justly more love for thee,
To those that most advanced my love,
And my desire of thee,
These by respect thou doest exact
Should be esteemed by me;
Yet not so much as to forget
Or weaken this thy love,
Which by thy law & will most just
I should prefer above
Them, which were but thy instruments;
And therefore it would seem
Very absurd, if I should them
More than thyself esteem,
Who didst by them thy counsel give,
Which was so good for me,
And second it with thy sweet grace;
The glory be to thee.
Amen.
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