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DEATH A Welcome Messenger.

I.
1 LORD, when we see a Saint of thine
2 Lie gasping out his Breath,
3 With Longing Eyes, and Looks Divine,
4 Smiling, and pleas'd in Death;
II.
5 How we could e'en contend to lay
6 Our Limbs upon that Bed,
7 And ask thine Envoy to convey
8 Our Spirits in his stead.
III.
9 Our Souls are rising on the Wing
10 To venture in his Place,
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11 For when grim Death has lost his Sting,
12 He has an Angels Face.
IV.
13 Jesus, then purge my Crimes away,
14 'Tis Guilt creates my Fears,
15 'Tis Guilt gives Death its fierce Array,
16 And all the Arms it bears.
V.
17 Oh, if my threatning Sins were gone,
18 And Death had lost his Sting,
19 I could invite the Angel on,
20 And chide his lazy Wing.
VI.
21 Away these interposing Days,
22 And let the Lovers meet;
23 The Angel has a cold Embrace,
24 But kind, and soft, and sweet.
VII.
25 I'de leap at once my Seventy Years,
26 And fly into his Arms,
27 And lose my Breath and all my Cares
28 Amidst those Heavenly Charms.
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VIII.
29 Joyful I'd lay this Body down,
30 And leave the lifeless Clay,
31 Without a Sigh, without a Groan,
32 And Stretch and soar away.

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Title (in Source Edition): DEATH A Welcome Messenger.
Author: Isaac Watts
Themes:
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. 27-29. [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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