Poem by William Cowper

Olney Hymn 9. The Contrite Heart

     (Isaiah, lvii.15)

    The Lord will happiness divine
        On contrite hearts bestow; 
    Then tell me, gracious God, is mine
        A contrite heart or no?

    I hear, but seem to hear in vain,
        Insensible as steel; 
    If aught is felt, 'tis only pain,
        To find I cannot feel.

    I sometimes think myself inclined
        To love Thee if I could; 
    But often feel another mind,
        Averse to all that's good.

    My best desires are faint and few,
        I fain would strive for more; 
    But when I cry, "My strength renew!"
        Seem weaker than before.

    Thy saints are comforted, I know,
        And love Thy house of prayer; 
    I therefore go where others go,
        But find no comfort there.

    Oh make this heart rejoice or ache;
        Decide this doubt for me; 
    And if it be not broken, break --
        And heal it, if it be. 

1. Olney Hymn 4. Jehovah-Nissi. The Lord My Banner
2. See Where the Thames, the Purest Stream
3. An Ode, on Reading Mr. Richardson's History of Sir Charles Grandison
4. Olney Hymn 24. Prayer for Children
5. An Apology for Not Showing Her What I Had Wrote

Print

1777 Views

Last Poems

To Russian version