[Page 90]

BEWAILING My own Inconstancy.

I.
1 I LOVE the Lord; but ah! how far
2 My Thoughts from the dear Object are!
3 This wanton Heart how wide it roves!
4 And Fancy meets a Thousand Loves.
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II.
5 If my Soul burn to see my God
6 I tread the Courts of his abode,
7 But Troops of Rivals throng the place
8 And Tempt me off before his Face.
III.
9 Would I enjoy my Lord alone,
10 I bid my Passions all be gone,
11 All but my Love; and Charge my Will
12 To bar the Door and keep it still.
IV.
13 But Cares or Trifles make or find
14 Still new Avenues to the Mind,
15 Till I with Grief and Wonder see
16 Huge Crouds betwixt my Lord and Me.
V.
17 Oft I am told the Muse will prove
18 A Friend to Piety and Love;
19 Strait I begin some Sacred Song,
20 And take my Saviour on my Tongue.
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VI.
21 Strangely I lose his Lovely Face
22 To hold the Empty Sounds in Chase;
23 At best the Chymes divide my Heart,
24 And the Muse shares the larger part.
VII.
25 False Confident! And falser Breast!
26 Fickle and fond of every Guest:
27 Each Airy Image as it flies
28 Here finds admittance thro' my Eyes.
VIII.
29 This Foolish Heart can leave her God,
30 And Shadows tempt her Thoughts abroad,
31 How shall I fix this Wandring Mind,
32 Or throw my Fetters on the Wind?
IX.
33 Look gently down, Almighty Grace,
34 Prison me round in thine Embrace:
35 Pity the Soul that would be thine,
36 And let thy Power my Love Confine.
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X.
37 Say, when shall that bright Moment be
38 That I shall live alone for thee,
39 My Heart no Foreign Lords adore,
40 And the wild Muse prove false no more?

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Title (in Source Edition): BEWAILING My own Inconstancy.
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. 90-93. [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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