"Shall He, to God / Dear as his Eye and Heart, engraven there / Deep from Eternity; alone Belov'd, / Alone Begotten! say, shall He become / A Man of Grief--for Man?"
— Thompson, William (bap. 1712, d.c. 1766)
Work Title
Date
1746, 1757
Metaphor
"Shall He, to God / Dear as his Eye and Heart, engraven there / Deep from Eternity; alone Belov'd, / Alone Begotten! say, shall He become / A Man of Grief--for Man?"
Metaphor in Context
Not less thy Filial Likeness I adore,
Nor from thy Father's Glory aught disjoin,
Redeemer! Mediator! from the Birth
Of uncreated Time, thy Father's Wrath
(Sprung from Omniscience!) to appease, for Man,
Upright as yet, to mediate, Mercy wak'd
Unbounded Love in Thee; unbounded Love
Contracted to the Measure of a Span
Immensity of Godhead, and thy Crown
Reft from thy faded Brow. Listen, O Earth!
And wonder, O ye Heav'ns! shall He, whose Feet
Are cloath'd with Stars, (the Glory of his Head
For who can tell?) whose Looks divine illume
The dazzel'd Eyes of Cherubs, and the Youth
Of Saints with everlasting Bloom renew:
Shall He, whose vital Smiles with Splendor fill
The Circuits of Creation, and sustain
Th' Abodes of all Existence, from the Depths
Of Hell beneath, above Heav'n's highest Orb,
With Life, and Health, and Joy! shall He, to God
Dear as his Eye and Heart, engraven there
Deep from Eternity; alone Belov'd,
Alone Begotten! say, shall He become
A Man of Grief--for Man? nay more his Foe,
Rebellious next the Fiends?--Astonishment
Had chain'd my Tongue to silence, if the Pow'rs
Of tenderest Pity and of warmest Love
Provok'd not pensive Measures, sadder Strains
Of Elegiack-Sorrow, with the Theme
Mournfully varying. Take, my Soul redeem'd!
O take the moaning Dove's dew-dropping Wing,
Fly, fly to Solyma! and melt thy Woe
To Cedron's Murmurs. Thence, extend thy Flight
To Golgotha's accursed Tree. Behold!
Nor from thy Father's Glory aught disjoin,
Redeemer! Mediator! from the Birth
Of uncreated Time, thy Father's Wrath
(Sprung from Omniscience!) to appease, for Man,
Upright as yet, to mediate, Mercy wak'd
Unbounded Love in Thee; unbounded Love
Contracted to the Measure of a Span
Immensity of Godhead, and thy Crown
Reft from thy faded Brow. Listen, O Earth!
And wonder, O ye Heav'ns! shall He, whose Feet
Are cloath'd with Stars, (the Glory of his Head
For who can tell?) whose Looks divine illume
The dazzel'd Eyes of Cherubs, and the Youth
Of Saints with everlasting Bloom renew:
Shall He, whose vital Smiles with Splendor fill
The Circuits of Creation, and sustain
Th' Abodes of all Existence, from the Depths
Of Hell beneath, above Heav'n's highest Orb,
With Life, and Health, and Joy! shall He, to God
Dear as his Eye and Heart, engraven there
Deep from Eternity; alone Belov'd,
Alone Begotten! say, shall He become
A Man of Grief--for Man? nay more his Foe,
Rebellious next the Fiends?--Astonishment
Had chain'd my Tongue to silence, if the Pow'rs
Of tenderest Pity and of warmest Love
Provok'd not pensive Measures, sadder Strains
Of Elegiack-Sorrow, with the Theme
Mournfully varying. Take, my Soul redeem'd!
O take the moaning Dove's dew-dropping Wing,
Fly, fly to Solyma! and melt thy Woe
To Cedron's Murmurs. Thence, extend thy Flight
To Golgotha's accursed Tree. Behold!
Categories
Provenance
Searching in "heart" and "engrav" in HDIS (Poetry)
Citation
At least 2 entries in ECCO and ESTC (1746, 1757).
First published as Sickness. A Poem. In Three Books. By William Thompson, M. A. of Queen’s College, Oxon. (London: Printed for R. Dodsley, 1746). <Link to ESTC><Link to ECCO>
Text from Poems on Several Occasions, To which is added Gondibert and Birtha, A Tragedy. By William Thompson (Oxford: Printed at the Theatre, 1757).
Some verses found in The Christian's Pocket Library (New York: 1796), vol. 1 of 2.
First published as Sickness. A Poem. In Three Books. By William Thompson, M. A. of Queen’s College, Oxon. (London: Printed for R. Dodsley, 1746). <Link to ESTC><Link to ECCO>
Text from Poems on Several Occasions, To which is added Gondibert and Birtha, A Tragedy. By William Thompson (Oxford: Printed at the Theatre, 1757).
Some verses found in The Christian's Pocket Library (New York: 1796), vol. 1 of 2.
Date of Entry
03/08/2005
