Poem by William Cowper

Olney Hymn 51. Lively Hope and Gracious Fear

I was a grovelling creature once,
    And basely cleaved to earth: 
I wanted spirit to renounce
    The clod that gave me birth.

But God hath breathed upon a worm,
    And sent me from above 
Wings such as clothe an angel's form,
    The wings of joy and love.

With these to Pisgah's top I fly
    And there delighted stand, 
To view, beneath a shining sky,
    The spacious promised land.

The Lord of all the vast domain
    Has promised it to me, 
The length and breadth of all the plain
    As far as faith can see.

How glorious is my privilege!
    To Thee for help I call; 
I stand upon a mountain's edge,
    O save me, lest I fall!

Though much exalted in the Lord,
    My strength is not my own; 
Then let me tremble at His word,
    And none shall cast me down.

1. Olney Hymn 55. The Heart Healed and Changed by Mercy
2. Olney Hymn 4. Jehovah-Nissi. The Lord My Banner
3. An Ode, on Reading Mr. Richardson's History of Sir Charles Grandison
4. Olney Hymn 17. The House of Prayer
5. Olney Hymn 13. The Covenant

Print

2122 Views

Last Poems

To Russian version