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George Herbert (1593-1633)

The Altar


              1A broken ALTAR, Lord, thy servant rears,
              2Made of a heart and cemented with tears;
              3      Whose parts are as thy hand did frame;
              4      No workman's tool hath touch'd the same.
              5            A HEART alone
              6            Is such a stone,
              7            As nothing but
              8            Thy pow'r doth cut.
              9            Wherefore each part
            10            Of my hard heart
            11            Meets in this frame
            12            To praise thy name.
            13      That if I chance to hold my peace,
            14      These stones to praise thee may not cease.
            15Oh, let thy blessed SACRIFICE be mine,
            16And sanctify this ALTAR to be thine.

Notes

4] See Exodus 20:22.

14] See Luke 10:40.


Online text copyright © 2009, Ian Lancashire (the Department of English) and the University of Toronto.
Published by the Web Development Group, Information Technology Services, University of Toronto Libraries.

Original text: George Herbert, The temple. Sacred poems and private ejaculations, edited by N. Ferrar (Cambridge: T. Buck and R. Daniel, 1633). STC 13183. Facs. edn. Menston: Scolar Press, 1968. PR 3507 T45 1633A. Also The Bodleian Manuscript of George Herbert's Poems: A Facsimile of Tanner 307, Introduced by Amy M. Charles and Mario A. Di Cesare. Delmar: Scholars' Facsimiles and Reprints, 1984. PR 3507 T45 1984 ROBA.
First publication date: 1633
RPO poem editor: N. J. Endicott
RP edition: 3RP 1.208.
Recent editing: 2:2002/2/13

Form: couplets


Other poems by George Herbert