id,comments,provenance,dictionary,created_at,reviewed_on,work_id,theme,context,updated_at,metaphor,text
14051,"•So many Psalm XXII translations!
•Cross-reference: Blackmore, Chamberlayne, Darby, Frere, Merrick, Parnell, Smart, Wesleys.","Searching ""heart"" and ""wax"" in HDIS (Poetry)","",2005-03-27 00:00:00 UTC,,5222,Psalm 22,I've included the entire poem,2009-09-14 19:39:49 UTC,"""My heart in groans its grief proclaims, / And melts, as wax before the flames""","My God, my God, O tell me, why
Unheeded still ascends my cry,
Why thus from my afflicted heart
Thy presence and thy health depart.
Eternal Lord, throughout the day
With fruitless plaint to Thee I pray;
Nor sleeps the anguish of my soul,
When night's dark shades involve the pole.
Yet unimpeach'd thy Faith appears,
Thy Sanctity my heart reveres,
O Thou, to whom in homage join
The Sons of Jacob's chosen line.
Thee, Lord, our Sires their strength confest,
And found thee, as their stedfast breast
To Thee its full affiance gave,
Nor flow to hear, nor weak to save:
Secure thy wish'd for aid t' obtain,
In Thee they hop'd, nor hop'd in vain.
But what am I? A Man in form,
Yet brother to the trampled worm;
An outcast from the human kind,
To fierce derision's rage consign'd:
They shake the head, they shout, they gaze;
Each eye, each lip, contempt betrays:
""On God, they cry, thy hope was staid;
""Be God, if His thou art, thy aid.""
Thine, mightiest Father, thine I am;
By Thee from out the womb I came,
From Thee my ev'ry comfort sprung,
While yet upon the breast I hung.
Hail, from my birth and to my end
My God, my Guardian, and my Friend.
O view me not with distant eye,
While various griefs await me nigh:
Thy aid withheld, what friendly pow'r
Shall shield me in the dang'rous hour?
See Bulls unnumber'd round me stand,
Bulls, nurs'd in Basan's fertile land;
With wide-extended mouth they roar,
Nor rage the famish'd Lions more,
When nightly through the starless gloom
Along the howling Wild they roam.
My frame, disjoin'd, in swift decay
Wastes like the running stream away;
My heart in groans its grief proclaims,
And melts, as wax before the flames.
Fast to my jaws my tongue is chain'd,
My flesh, its vital moisture drain'd,
Dry as the clay-form'd vase appears,
And, while thy chastisement it bears,
Waits till thy hand resume my breath,
And lodge me in the dust of death.
Thou seest my soul by Dogs pursu'd,
Dogs fierce of kind, and train'd to blood;
Thou seest a throng, who Thee despise,
In dreadful siege against me rise,
And, while fast-issuing streams the gore,
My hands and feet relentless bore.
My starting bones to ev'ry eye
Expos'd, O Ye that, passing by,
In wonder (not in pity) join,
O say, was ever grief like mine?
My raiment each with each divides,
My vesture, as the lot decides,
Becomes some new possessor's spoil,
The prize that crowns his impious toil.
My God, my Strength, recede not far,
But haste, and make my soul thy care,
My soul, pursu'd by hostile hate,
Afflicted, helpless, desolate;
O turn th' impending swords away,
Nor yield it to the Dog a prey.
The foaming Lion's wrath assuage,
Nor let the Oryx, in his rage,
With headlong force against me borne,
Aim at my life the pointed horn.
So will I joy thy honour'd name
Amidst my Brethren to proclaim,
And gath'ring Crouds shall hear my tongue
Thus to my God awake the song.
""Exalt, Ye Saints, the Pow'r divine,
""Exalt him, All of Jacob's line,
""And let each Tribe with duteous fear
""His boundless Majesty revere.
""'Tis not in Him, with cold disdain
""To hear the helpless Poor complain;
""He (nor with unrelenting eye)
""Each falling tear, each heaving sigh,
""Regards, attentive to perceive
""Their wants, and faithful to relieve.""
Such Strains thy Mercy shall inspire,
While in the full-assembled Choir
To Thee the votive Song I raise,
And thankful pay my debt of praise.
To You, Ye humble, meek, and good,
Who ask from Israel's Lord your food,
His hand indulgent from on high
Shall yield at full the wish'd supply:
Who seek like You their God, like You
To Him their praises shall renew,
Whose Love immortal life imparts,
And swells with joy their conscious hearts.
Maker of All! through ev'ry Land
Thy Deeds in full record shall stand,
And farthest Realms converted join
In homage to the Name divine;
Ev'n Kings in Thee their Mightier greet,
And lay their scepters at thy feet.
Earth's countless tribes the festal board
(Thy grace by sacrifice implor'd,)
Shall spread; and All, whose mortal frame
Th' insatiate Grave prepares to claim,
Thy Pow'r, immortal Judge, shall own,
And prostrate kneel before thy Throne.
See, while by Thee redeem'd I live,
A Race from Me their birth derive,
(A Race by just possession thine,)
Whose heart thy Spirit shall incline
The precepts of thy Will t' obey,
Whose tongue thy glory shall display,
And bid thy righteous Acts engage
The wonder of the future Age."
14056,"•Psalm XCIV
•DNB notes Psalms is a popular work. ""Merrick was evidently aiming to capture a different audience from the nonconformists who were singing Isaac Watts's The Psalms of David of 1719: he seems to have been attempting a version which would be an alternative to Watts for the Church of England, and which would also 'answer the purposes of private devotion' (preface). He used a number of metres; the majority were couplets in octosyllabics or of seven syllables. The popularity of the book is shown by its frequent reprinting, and by an edition 'divided into stanzas and adapted for devotion' by W. D. Tattersall (1794). Before that, twenty-one of Merrick's psalms had appeared in J. Ash and C. Evans's A Collection of Hymns Adapted to Public Worship (1781), over the signature 'M'; they were set to music by William Hayes (1775) for use in Magdalen College chapel, Oxford. Further editions with musical settings followed, including settings by Haydn. According to Julian's Dictionary of Hymnology, Merrick's psalm versions were popular in the early nineteenth century, but had by 1892 'fallen very much into disuse' (p. 725, col. 2). It is not difficult to see why: although they were commended by Robert Lowth (who of course had a hand in them, and who described Merrick as 'one of the best of men, and most eminent of scholars'), they were described by a contemporary critic as tame and diffuse, and James Montgomery has some sharp comments on their verbosity. They are now forgotten. They were greatly admired, however, in Merrick's own time: Thomas Warton said that they evidenced 'a flow of poetical language, and a richness of imagery, which give dignity to the subject, without departing from the sense of the inspired writer' (Coates, 439).""","Searching ""brain"" and ""stamp"" in HDIS (Poetry)",Impression,2005-04-11 00:00:00 UTC,,5225,"",I've included the entire poem,2013-11-11 04:40:28 UTC,"""Reason in the bosom pours, / Its growth improves, its fruit matures, / Each counsel of the human brain / Weighs in his scale, and stamps it vain?""","Thou God with vengeance arm'd, appear;
Thou God with vengeance arm'd, whose fear
The Earth (for Thee her Judge she knows,)
Submissive owns, thy pow'r disclose,
And instant from thy seat arise,
Each proud transgressor to chastise.
How long shall impious Crouds, how long,
With haughtiest insult arm their tongue?
How long in bitt'rest gall each word
Infuse, and boast their conqu'ring sword?
Thy Flock, great God, their fury own;
Beneath their stroke thy People groan:
Their hands, remorseless, to the tomb
The Widow and the Stranger doom;
Nor innocence nor tend'rest age
Can shield the Orphan from their rage.
""Ne'er shall our deeds in Heav'n be known,
""Or reach (they cry,) the distant Throne
""Of Israel's Lord.""--Ye fools and blind!
Return, and seek a better mind.
Say, when shall Wisdom's light serene
Your souls from error's childhood wean?
Who knew to plant the ear, shall He
Not hear? Who form'd the eye, not see?
Shall aught of guilt his search evade,
Who bids the Nations he has made,
Inform'd by his paternal care,
The gifts of various Science share,
Who Reason in the bosom pours,
Its growth improves, its fruit matures,
Each counsel of the human brain
Weighs in his scale, and stamps it vain?"
14087,"","Searching ""heart"" and ""silver"" in HDIS (Poetry)",Metal,2005-06-03 00:00:00 UTC,,5231,Refinement,I've included the entire poem,2009-09-14 19:39:57 UTC,"""And bid the flame each heart refine, / As silver recent from the mine""","Ye Sons of Men, in God rejoice;
Lift in one choir your thankful voice,
And spread through Earth's extended frame
The honour of your Maker's name.
How awful are thy Works, how great!
(Thus let the song his praise repeat,)
Thy late obdurate foes behold,
By thy superior strength controul'd,
With flatt'ring lip their homage pay,
And Earth's whole empire own thy sway.
Each tribe of human race to Thee
Shall suppliant bend the humble knee,
Each tongue in hymns of praise shall join,
And joyful bless the name divine.
O come, and view with rev'rent thought
The Acts by Heav'n's high Monarch wrought,
His wonders shown since Time began,
And friendlike intercourse with Man.
His word the Deep's vast channel dried,
And backward roll'd th' obedient Tide:
Now safe athwart its sandy bed
By Him our rescu'd troops are led,
Now lost in grateful transport stand,
And shouts of triumph shake the strand.
Time's latest period long o'erpast,
His pow'r shall self-supported last;
Each realm to his observing eyes,
From pole to pole, subjected lies,
And sees its rebel Sons in vain
With strength combin'd oppose his reign.
Ye Nations All of various tongue,
To Jacob's God exalt the song;
Sing, sing aloud, that Nature's ear
His praise through all her bounds may hear,
Whose wakeful care within our breast
(Though countless foes our peace infest,)
Still gives the vital pulse to beat,
And guards from dread of lapse our feet.
Oft has thy hand, All-potent Lord,
By various proof our faith explor'd,
And bid the flame each heart refine,
As silver recent from the mine:
Now round us waves the net, and now
Beneath oppression's weight we bow,
While o'er our heads the Sons of pride
With hostile scorn exulting ride.
Through fires, through torrents, led by Thee,
At length th' expected Land we see,
Where streams irriguous cleave the soil,
And crown with wealth the tiller's toil.
Lo, to thy Dome, my God and King,
The sacred holocaust I bring,
That late, oppress'd by sorrow's cloud,
To Thee with fervent lip I vow'd:
Before thy Altar's kindled fire
The promis'd victims shall expire,
Here bleed the full-fed Goat, and here
The fleecy Ram, and stubborn Steer."
14088,"•Psalm 105:17-18, ""He sent a man before them, even Joseph, who was sold for a servant: Whose feet they hurt with fetters: he was laid in iron""","Searching ""soul"" and ""iron"" in HDIS (Poetry)",Fetters,2005-06-08 00:00:00 UTC,2011-05-26,5232,"","",2011-05-27 13:54:21 UTC,"""What though, his feet in fetters bound, / His soul th' afflicting irons wound / Yet, Joseph, patient bear thy lot.""","He calls; and on the cultur'd ground
Life's needful staff no more is found,
While Drought, incumbent o'er the plain,
Checks in mid growth the rip'ning grain.
Yet Mercy still his Wrath outran;
Thy shores, O Nile, receive the Man,
Ordain'd the chosen Race to save,
Thy future Lord, though now thy Slave.
What though, his feet in fetters bound,
His soul th' afflicting irons wound,
Yet, Joseph, patient bear thy lot:
Thy lips, with heav'nly science fraught,
Shall soon the mystic Dream explain,
That ends thy woes, and breaks thy chain.
The Monarch bids; the prison door
Detains the injur'd Saint no more:
New honours now his wrongs repair;
The regal Palace to his care
Its wealth consigns; and Egypt's land
Bows to her Captive's wise command.
Ev'n Princes own'd with rev'rent awe
The dictates of his will their Law,
And Senates on his youthful tongue
In silent wonder list'ning hung.
But who is He, that, bow'd with years,
Now first on Mizraim's Coast appears?
'Tis Jacob: joy'd, that now his eyes
Have seen his Joseph e'er he dies,
Th' illustrious Pilgrim's wearied feet
In Egypt fix their last retreat.
With large increase his Line is blest,
And Zoan in th' adopted Guest
With hostile eye beholds up-grown
A strength superior to her own.
See hence the woes on Egypt pour'd!
(But Thou, O Monarch, shouldst thy word
Absolve, nor thus with impious rod
Oppress the Servants of thy God.)
See Moses, pleading, stretch the hand;
See Aaron lift the sacred wand,
And lead th' invited vengeance on
In scenes to Nature's Laws unknown.
But O, what terrors, Cham, are thine,
While quick on thy devoted Line,
Far as thy utmost coasts extend,
Thou seest the various pest descend!
If Fear their stubborn hearts may melt,
Let Darkness, Darkness to be felt,
Inclose them.--Thus th' Almighty spake:
As forth the awful accents brake,
Darkness the high behest obey'd,
And round them wrapt its thickest shade.
The Heav'n-struck Nile's extended flood
Now rolls a current black with blood;
While breathless on their oozy bed
In heaps the finny tribes are spread.
The loathsom Frog, a num'rous Birth,
Springs instant from the teeming earth,
Nor walls that guard a Monarch's rest
Know to exclude the hideous guest.
He bids; and through the darken'd air
In troops th' assembling Flies repair,
And swarms of Reptiles, scatter'd wide,
Rebuke the faithless Tyrant's pride.
In league against them now conspire
The rushing Hail, and bick'ring Fire;
And, instant, by the tempest torn,
Their ruin'd shades the forests mourn:
No more array'd in native green
The figtree and the vine are seen,
No more with flow'ring honours crown'd,
But useless load th' incumber'd ground.
He bids; and join'd in close array
Th' embattled Locusts take their way:
Before them plains with verdure grac'd
Appear; behind, a barren waste:
While the dun Beetle through the sky
With eager speed is seen to fly,
And, partner in the offer'd spoil,
Consumes th' astonish'd planter's toil.
Now to the grave, with anguish torn,
Each Mother yields her eldest-born;
And Egypt's land, along its shores,
The first-fruits of its strength deplores.
Rise, Israel, rise; for in their ear
Thy Sons the voice of Freedom hear:
The wealth of their relenting foes
Earth's sov'reign Lord on Them bestows,
And bids them leave the hostile soil
Each strong for travel, strong for toil.
As now their destin'd path they tread,
Egypt, yet pale with recent dread,
Exulting sees the sacred Band
With parting footsteps press her strand.
Expanded wide above their heads
The shadowing Cloud its curtain spreads;
Before them walks th' embodied Fire,
And bids the shades of Night retire.
Quails on their appetite bestow'd,
And Bread ethereal, gave them food;
While, at his word, from out the rock
Th' imprison'd streams luxuriant broke,
And onward pour'd, with lengthen'd train,
Ran murm'ring o'er the thirsty plain.
Such Mercies, All-indulgent Lord,
Thy changeless promises afford,
Such Blessings thy remembrance kind
Of Abraham's ever faithful mind.
Redeem'd from stern Oppression's seat,
With grateful joy their bosoms beat;
Joy, yet enlarg'd, when Canaan's Land
Resigns her scepter to their hand,
And bids them reap from off her soil
The harvest of another's toil.
(pp. 261-6, ll. 45-158)"
14093,•,"Searching ""breast"" and ""steel"" in HDIS (Poetry)",Metal,2005-06-13 00:00:00 UTC,,5235,"",I've included the entire poem,2009-09-14 19:39:58 UTC,"""O Judah, if in this thy day / My Will thou purpose to obey, / Steel not thy breast to truths divine, / As erst the Fathers of thy line""","O come, and to th' eternal King
New songs of triumph let us sing;
With holy transport Him alone
The strength of our Salvation own;
Admitted to his presence pay
The tribute of the grateful lay,
And, while his Acts our mirth inspire,
Wake to his praise the vocal lyre.
Extended wide beyond all bound,
Beyond all height, his pow'r is found,
Nor Lords, with Him, nor Gods beside
The honours of his Throne divide.
Earth's stores, throughout its inmost frame,
He, great Proprietor, shall claim;
Your Range, Ye cloud-transcending Hills,
His pow'r commands, his presence fills.
Inrich'd by his prolific hand
In Him the All-productive Land,
In Him the Sea, that rounds its shore,
Their Maker and their Lord adore.
O come, and let your knees with mine
To Him in lowliest homage join;
In Him your God, your Father, see,
The People of his pasture Ye,
The Flock that guided by his care
The blessings of his bounty share.
O Judah, if in this thy day
My Will thou purpose to obey,
Steel not thy breast to truths divine,
As erst the Fathers of thy line;
Whose Bands th' inclosing Desert saw,
Rebellious to the Heav'n-taught Law,
With mad presumption from my hand
The signals of my pow'r demand;
Indulg'd, the wish'd for sight obtain;
And, seen, demand them yet again.
Through forty years the circling sun
Beheld their date of mercy run,
As, griev'd, I strove, but strove in vain,
Their growing frenzy to restrain;
Behold a Race, at length I cried,
Whose heart from Me has swerv'd aside,
(By Error's pow'r subdu'd,) nor known
That Wisdom's paths and Mine are one.
My Oath, for by Myself I swear,
My kindled anger shall declare,
And bar them from my Rest, decreed
To faithful Abrabam's chosen Seed."
14107,"","Searching ""soul"" and ""balance"" in HDIS (Poetry)","",2006-12-11 00:00:00 UTC,,5241,"","",2009-09-14 19:40:01 UTC,"""Are your thoughts by Justice sway'd, / And in Reason's balance weigh'd?""","Ye whose lips the cause decide,
Say, does Truth your sentence guide?
Are your thoughts by Justice sway'd,
And in Reason's balance weigh'd?
Let your conscious tongues attest
What Ye harbour in your breast.
Hearts Ye bear, that deep within
Cherish each suggested sin,
And the dictates of your will
With remorseless hands fulfill.
From the womb, in error's way
See the infant sinner stray:
Nurtur'd in deceit and wrong
See him with advent'rous tongue
(Prompt his earliest skill to try,)
Lisp the meditated lye.
See their veins with venom swell;
Arm'd with such, the Adder fell
Stops her ear, in many a fold
'Mid the shelt'ring brake uproll'd,
While each note the Charmer tries,
And his utmost art defies."