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My Soul Thirsteth For God.

By William Cowper

Topics: classic

I thirst, but not as once I did,     The vain delights of earth to share;     Thy wounds, Emmanuel, all forbid     That I should seek my pleasures there.     It was the sight of thy dear cross     First weand my soul from earthly things;     And taught me to esteem as dross     The mirth of fools and pomp of kings.     I want that grace that springs from thee,     That quickens all things where it flows,     And makes a wretched thorn like me     Bloom as the myrtle or the rose.     Dear fountain of delight unknown!     No longer sink below the brim;     But over flow, and pour me down     A living and life-giving stream!     For sure, of all the plants that share     The notice of thy Fathers eye,     None proves less grateful to his care,     Or yields him meaner fruit than I.

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"I thirst, but not as once I did,..."

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Author:William Cowper

"I thirst, but not as once I did,..." by William Cowper

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"The Text is taken from Percy's Reliques (1765), vol. i. p. 71, 'given from two MS. copies, transmitted from Scotland.' Herd had a very similar bal"

William Cowper

About William Cowper

William Cowper (1731–1800) was an English poet and hymnodist whose work bridges the gap between the Augustan age and Romanticism. His poems "The Task" and "John Gilpin" were enormously popular, and his hymn "God Moves in a Mysterious Way" remains widely sung.

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