[ { "title": "Prayer", "author": "George Herbert", "lines": [ "Prayer the Churches banquet, Angels age,", "Gods breath in man returning to his birth,", "The soul in paraphrase, heart in pilgramage,", "The Christian plummet sounding heav'n and earth;", "Engine against th'Almightie, sinners towre,", "Reversed thunder, Christ-side-piercing spear,", "The six-daies world-transposing in an houre,", "A kinde of tune, which all things heare and fear;", "Softnesse, and peace, and joy, and love, and blisse,", "Exalted Manna, gladnesse of the best,", "Heaven in ordinarie, man well drest,", "The milkie way, the bird of Paradise,", "Church-bels beyond the starres heard, the souls bloud,", "The land of spices; something understood." ], "linecount": "14" }, { "title": "Prayer", "author": "Henry David Thoreau", "lines": [ "Great God, I ask for no meaner pelf", "Than that I may not disappoint myself,", "That in my action I may soar as high", "As I can now discern with this clear eye.", "And next in value, which thy kindness lends,", "That I may greatly disappoint my friends,", "Howe'er they think or hope that it may be,", "They may not dream how thou'st distinguished me.", "", "That my weak hand may equal my firm faith", "And my life practice what my tongue saith", "That my low conduct may not show", "Nor my relenting lines", "That I thy purpose did not know", "Or overrated thy designs." ], "linecount": "14" }, { "title": "Prayer", "author": "Richard Crashaw", "lines": [ "LO here a little volume, but great Book", "A nest of new-born sweets;", "Whose native fires disdaining", "To ly thus folded, and complaining", "Of these ignoble sheets,", "Affect more comly bands", "(Fair one) from the kind hands", "And confidently look", "To find the rest", "Of a rich binding in your Brest.", "It is, in one choise handfull, heavenn; and all", "Heavn’s Royall host; incamp’t thus small", "To prove that true schooles use to tell,", "Ten thousand Angels in one point can dwell.", "It is love’s great artillery", "Which here contracts itself, and comes to ly", "Close couch’t in their white bosom: and from thence", "As from a snowy fortresse of defence,", "Against their ghostly foes to take their part,", "And fortify the hold of their chast heart.", "It is an armory of light", "Let constant use but keep it bright,", "You’l find it yeilds", "To holy hands and humble hearts", "More swords and sheilds", "Then sin hath snares, or Hell hath darts.", "Only be sure", "The hands be pure", "That hold these weapons; and the eyes", "Those of turtles, chast and true;", "Wakefull and wise;", "Here is a freind shall fight for you,", "Hold but this book before their heart;", "Let prayer alone to play his part,", "But ф the heart", "That studyes this high Art", "Must be a sure house-keeper", "And yet no sleeper.", "Dear soul, be strong.", "Mercy will come e’re long", "And bring his bosom fraught with blessings,", "Flowers of never fading graces", "To make immortall dressings", "For worthy soules, whose wise embraces", "Store up themselves for Him, who is alone", "The Spouse of Virgins and the Virgin’s son.", "But if the noble Bridegroom, when he come", "Shall find the loytering Heart from home;", "Leaving her chast aboad", "To gadde abroad", "Among the gay mates of the god of flyes;", "To take her pleasure and to play", "And keep the devill’s holyday;", "To dance th’sunshine of some smiling", "But beguiling", "Spheares of sweet and sugred Lyes,", "Some slippery Pair", "Of false, perhaps as fair,", "Flattering but forswearing eyes;", "Doubtlesse some other heart", "Will gett the start", "Mean while, and stepping in before", "Will take possession of that sacred store", "Of hidden sweets and holy ioyes.", "Words which are not heard with Eares", "(Those tumultuous shops of noise)", "Effectuall wispers, whose still voice", "The soul it selfe more feeles then heares;", "Amorous languishments; luminous trances;", "Sights which are not seen with eyes;", "Spirituall and soul-peircing glances", "Whose pure and subtil lightning flyes", "Home to the heart, and setts the house on fire", "And melts it down in sweet desire", "Yet does not stay", "To ask the windows leave to passe that way;", "Delicious Deaths; soft exalations", "Of soul; dear and divine annihilations;", "A thousand unknown rites", "Of ioyes and rarefy’d delights;", "A hundred thousand goods, glories, and graces,", "And many a mystick thing", "Which the divine embraces", "Of the deare spouse of spirits with them will bring", "For which it is no shame", "That dull mortality must not know a name.", "Of all this store", "Of blessings and ten thousand more", "(If when he come", "He find the Heart from home)", "Doubtlesse he will unload", "Himself some other where,", "And poure abroad", "His pretious sweets", "On the fair soul whom first he meets.", "O fair, ф fortunate! O riche, ф dear!", "O happy and thrice happy she", "Selected dove", "Who ere she be,", "Whose early love", "With winged vowes", "Makes hast to meet her morning spouse", "And close with his immortall kisses.", "Happy indeed, who never misses", "To improve that pretious hour,", "And every day", "Seize her sweet prey", "All fresh and fragrant as he rises", "Dropping with a baulmy Showr", "A delicious dew of spices;", "O let the blissfull heart hold fast", "Her heavnly arm-full, she shall tast", "At once ten thousand paradises;", "She shall have power", "To rifle and deflour", "The rich and roseall spring of those rare sweets", "Which with a swelling bosome there she meets", "Boundles and infinite", "Bottomles treasures", "Of pure inebriating pleasures", "Happy proof! she shal discover", "What ioy, what blisse,", "How many Heav’ns at once it is", "To have her God become her Lover." ], "linecount": "124" }, { "title": "Prayer", "author": "Robert Louis Stevenson", "lines": [ "I ASK good things that I detest,", "With speeches fair;", "Heed not, I pray Thee, Lord, my breast,", "But hear my prayer.", "", "I say ill things I would not say -", "Things unaware:", "Regard my breast, Lord, in Thy day,", "And not my prayer.", "", "My heart is evil in Thy sight:", "My good thoughts flee:", "O Lord, I cannot wish aright -", "Wish Thou for me.", "", "O bend my words and acts to Thee,", "However ill,", "That I, whate'er I say or be,", "May serve Thee still.", "", "O let my thoughts abide in Thee", "Lest I should fall:", "Show me Thyself in all I see,", "Thou Lord of all." ], "linecount": "20" } ]