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SICKNESS GIVES A Sight of HEAVEN.

I.
1 OFT have I sat in Secret Sighs
2 To feel my Flesh decay,
3 Then groan'd aloud with frighted Eyes
4 To view this tott'ring Clay.
II.
5 But I forbid my Sorrows now,
6 Nor dares the Flesh complain,
7 Diseases bring their Profit too;
8 The Joy o'recomes the Pain.
III.
9 My chearful Soul now all the Day
10 Sits waiting here and Sings;
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11 Looks thro' the Ruins of her Clay,
12 And practises her Wings.
IV.
13 Faith almost changes into Sight,
14 While from afar she Spies
15 Her fair Inheritance in Light
16 Above created Skies.
V.
17 Had but the Prison-Walls been strong,
18 And firm without a flaw,
19 In Darkness she had dwelt too long,
20 And less of Glory saw.
VI.
21 But now the Everlasting Hills
22 Thro' every Chink appear,
23 And something of the Joy she feels
24 While she's a Pris'ner here.
VII.
25 The Shines of Heaven rush sweetly in
26 At all the Gaping Flaws,
27 Visions of Endless Bliss are seen,
28 And Native Air she draws.
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VIII.
29 O may these Walls stand tott'ring still,
30 The Breaches never close,
31 If I must here in Darkness dwell,
32 And all this Glory lose.
IX.
33 Or rather let this Flesh decay,
34 The Ruins wider grow,
35 Till glad to see the Enlarged way
36 I stretch my Pinions thro'.

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Title (in Source Edition): SICKNESS GIVES A Sight of HEAVEN.
Author: Isaac Watts
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Genres: hymn

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Watts, Isaac, 1674-1748. Horæ lyricæ: Poems, chiefly of the lyric kind. In two books. ... By I. Watts. London: Printed by S. and D. Bridge, for John Lawrence at the Sign of the Angel in the Poultrey. MDCCVI., 1706, pp. 18-20. [20],267,[1]p.; 8⁰. (ESTC T82397; OTA K067329.000) (Page images digitized from a copy in the Princeton Theological Seminary Library.)

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The text has been typographically modernized, but without any silent modernization of spelling, capitalization, or punctuation. The source of the text is given and all editorial interventions have been recorded in textual notes. Based on the electronic text originally produced by the TCP project, this ECPA text has been edited to conform to the recommendations found in Level 5 of the Best Practices for TEI in Libraries version 4.0.0.

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