"'Tis God's decree engrav'd upon the heart / To make us wait with patience, till he comes, / Undraws the curtain, and dispels the gloom, / And takes us to his bosom, and rewards / Our constancy and truth."
— Hurdis, James (1763-1801)
Author
Work Title
Place of Publication
London
Publisher
Printed for J. Johnson
Date
1790
Metaphor
"'Tis God's decree engrav'd upon the heart / To make us wait with patience, till he comes, / Undraws the curtain, and dispels the gloom, / And takes us to his bosom, and rewards / Our constancy and truth."
Metaphor in Context
"What reads my child?" he cried; "some tender "tale
"Of virtuous suff'ring?" Startled at the voice,
She shut her book, and wiping her warm cheek
Put it away disorder'd. "Let me see,"
Said Adriano kindly; "let me see
"What tale has pow'r to wring exhausted grief
"To such a flood of woe!" He seiz'd the book,
And found it Werter's Sorrows. "Aye, my child,
"A wretched tale, but not to be believ'd.
"O pestilent example, to describe
"As worthy pity and the fair one's tears
"Deeds by no arguments to be excus'd.
"Who kills himself, involves him in the guilt
"Of foulest murder. True, no written law
"Commands our strict forbearance; but be sure
"The laws of nature are the laws of God;
"And he, who said Thou shalt not murder, made
"This universal law that binds our hands
"From mischief to ourselves. Else why so strong
"The love of being and the fear of death?
"Why stands the tortur'd sick on the grave's brink,
"And trembles to step in? Why linger I,
"Assur'd that nothing painful waits me there?
"'Tis God's decree engrav'd upon the heart
"To make us wait with patience, till he comes,
"Undraws the curtain, and dispels the gloom,
"And takes us to his bosom, and rewards
"Our constancy and truth. That mortal then,
"Who shuns the suff'rance of impending ills,
"Is cowardly and rash. For what more rash
"Than wilfully to spoil a noble work
"God made, and said, let live? What more betrays
"Rank cowardice, than tim'rously to shake
"And fly distracted at a foe's approach?
"Can there be aught more painful, than to lose
"An amiable wife? in one short hour
"To fall from affluence and joy and peace,
"To poverty and grief? Can there be felt
"Heavier misfortune, than to lose a son,
"And find myself a beggar at his death;
"Forc'd into solitude without a friend,
"And only one poor little weeping child
"To be the sad companion of my grief?
"Yet am I living still, and kiss the hand
"That smote me so severely. Tell me not
"That life has pains too heavy to support.
"Look towards Calvary, and learn from thence
"The noblest fortitude is still to bear
"Accumulated ills, and never faint.
"We may avoid them, if we can with honour;
"But, God requiring, let weak man submit,
"And drink the bitter draught, and not repine.
"Had Cato been a Christian, he had died
"By inches, rather than have ta'en the sword
"And fall'n unlike his master."
"Of virtuous suff'ring?" Startled at the voice,
She shut her book, and wiping her warm cheek
Put it away disorder'd. "Let me see,"
Said Adriano kindly; "let me see
"What tale has pow'r to wring exhausted grief
"To such a flood of woe!" He seiz'd the book,
And found it Werter's Sorrows. "Aye, my child,
"A wretched tale, but not to be believ'd.
"O pestilent example, to describe
"As worthy pity and the fair one's tears
"Deeds by no arguments to be excus'd.
"Who kills himself, involves him in the guilt
"Of foulest murder. True, no written law
"Commands our strict forbearance; but be sure
"The laws of nature are the laws of God;
"And he, who said Thou shalt not murder, made
"This universal law that binds our hands
"From mischief to ourselves. Else why so strong
"The love of being and the fear of death?
"Why stands the tortur'd sick on the grave's brink,
"And trembles to step in? Why linger I,
"Assur'd that nothing painful waits me there?
"'Tis God's decree engrav'd upon the heart
"To make us wait with patience, till he comes,
"Undraws the curtain, and dispels the gloom,
"And takes us to his bosom, and rewards
"Our constancy and truth. That mortal then,
"Who shuns the suff'rance of impending ills,
"Is cowardly and rash. For what more rash
"Than wilfully to spoil a noble work
"God made, and said, let live? What more betrays
"Rank cowardice, than tim'rously to shake
"And fly distracted at a foe's approach?
"Can there be aught more painful, than to lose
"An amiable wife? in one short hour
"To fall from affluence and joy and peace,
"To poverty and grief? Can there be felt
"Heavier misfortune, than to lose a son,
"And find myself a beggar at his death;
"Forc'd into solitude without a friend,
"And only one poor little weeping child
"To be the sad companion of my grief?
"Yet am I living still, and kiss the hand
"That smote me so severely. Tell me not
"That life has pains too heavy to support.
"Look towards Calvary, and learn from thence
"The noblest fortitude is still to bear
"Accumulated ills, and never faint.
"We may avoid them, if we can with honour;
"But, God requiring, let weak man submit,
"And drink the bitter draught, and not repine.
"Had Cato been a Christian, he had died
"By inches, rather than have ta'en the sword
"And fall'n unlike his master."
Categories
Provenance
Searching "heart" and "engrav" in HDIS (Poetry)
Citation
At least 4 entries in ECCO and ESTC (1790, 1792, 1796).
See Adriano; or, the First of June, a Poem. By the Author of the Village Curate. (London: 1790). Link to ECCO>
Finding also in editions of Hurdis's Poems (Dublin, 1790; Philadelphia, 1796). Text from Poems: By the Rev. James Hurdis 3 vols. (Oxford: At the University Press for J. Parker; Messrs. Rivington and Messrs. Longman and Co., 1808).
See Adriano; or, the First of June, a Poem. By the Author of the Village Curate. (London: 1790). Link to ECCO>
Finding also in editions of Hurdis's Poems (Dublin, 1790; Philadelphia, 1796). Text from Poems: By the Rev. James Hurdis 3 vols. (Oxford: At the University Press for J. Parker; Messrs. Rivington and Messrs. Longman and Co., 1808).
Date of Entry
03/08/2005
Date of Review
04/03/2012
