A Hymne to God the Father
by Ben Jonson

HEARE mee, O God !
A broken heart,
    Is my best part :
Use still thy rod,
    That I may prove
    Therein, thy Love.

If thou hadst not
    Beene stern to mee,
    But left me free,
I had forgot
    My selfe and thee.

For sin's so sweet,
    As minds ill bent
    Rarely repent,
Until they meet
    Their punishment.

Who more can crave
    Than thou hast done :
    That gav'st a Sonne,
To free a slave?
    First made of nought ;
    With All since bought.

Sinne, Death, and Hell,
    His glorious Name
    Quite overcame,
Yet I rebell,
    And slight the same.

But, I'll come in,
    Before my losse,
    Me farther tosse,
As sure to win.
    Under his Crosse.


Source:
The Oxford Book of Seventeenth Century Verse.
H. J. C. Grierson and G. Bullough, eds.
Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1934. 167-168.

Backto Works of Ben Jonson

Site copyright ©1996-2007 Anniina Jokinen. All Rights Reserved.
Created by Anniina Jokinen on May 30, 2001. Last updated November 7, 2006.