Charity : A Paraphrase On 1 Cor. Chap. 13 Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis
Rhyme Scheme: AABBCCDEFF GGHIJKLLMM NOPNQQRRHS TUVVWXYYZA2 B2C2D2E2VVF2F2G2G2 QQH2I2G2G2J2J2WG2G2| Did sweeter Sounds adorn my flowing Tongue | A |
| Than ever Man pronounc'd or Angel sung | A |
| Had I all Knowledge Human and Divine | B |
| That Thought can reach or Science can define | B |
| And had I Pow'r to give that Knowledge Birth | C |
| In all the Speeches of the babbling Earth | C |
| Did Shadrach's Zeal my glowing Breast inspire | D |
| To weary Tortures and rejoice in Fire | E |
| Or had I Faith like That which Israel saw | F |
| When Moses gave them Miracles and Law | F |
| - | |
| Yet gracious Charity indulgent Guest | G |
| Were not Thy Pow'r exerted in my Breast | G |
| Those Speeches would send up unheeded Pray'r | H |
| That Scorn of Life would be but wild Despair | I |
| A Tymbal's Sound were better than my Voice | J |
| My Faith were Form my Eloquence were Noise | K |
| Charity decent modest easy kind | L |
| Softens the high and rears the abject Mind | L |
| Knows with just Reins and gentle Hand to guide | M |
| Betwixt vile Shame and arbitrary Pride | M |
| - | |
| Not soon provok'd She easily forgives | N |
| And much She suffers as She much believes | O |
| Soft Peace She brings where ever She arrives | P |
| She builds our Quiet as She forms our Lives | N |
| Lays the rough Paths of peevish Nature ev'n | Q |
| And opens in each Heart a little Heav'n | Q |
| Each other Gift which GOD on Man bestows | R |
| It's proper Bounds and due Restriction knows | R |
| To one fixt Purpose dedicates it's Pow'r | H |
| And finishing it's Act exists no more | S |
| - | |
| Thus in Obedience to what Heav'n decrees | T |
| Knowledge shall fail and Prophecy shall cease | U |
| But lasting Charity's more ample Sway | V |
| Nor bound by Time nor subject to Decay | V |
| In happy Triumph shall for ever live | W |
| And endless Good diffuse and endless Praise receive | X |
| As thro' the Artist's intervening Glass | Y |
| Our Eye observes the distant Planets pass | Y |
| A little we discover but allow | Z |
| That more remains unseen than Art can show | A2 |
| - | |
| So whilst our Mind it's Knowledge wou'd improve | B2 |
| It's feeble Eye intent on Things above | C2 |
| High as We may We lift our Reason up | D2 |
| By Faith directed and confirm'd by Hope | E2 |
| Yet are We able only to survey | V |
| Dawnings of Beams and Promises of Day | V |
| Heav'n's fuller Effluence mocks our dazl'd Sight | F2 |
| Too great it's Swiftness and too strong it's Light | F2 |
| But soon the mediate Clouds shall be dispell'd | G2 |
| The Sun shall soon be Face to Face beheld | G2 |
| - | |
| In all His Robes with all His Glory on | Q |
| Seated sublime on His Meridian Throne | Q |
| Then constant Faith and holy Hope shall dye | H2 |
| One lost in Certainty and One in Joy | I2 |
| Whilst Thou more happy Pow'r fair Charity | G2 |
| Triumphant Sister greatest of the Three | G2 |
| Thy Office and Thy Nature still the same | J2 |
| Lasting thy Lamp and unconsum'd thy Flame | J2 |
| Shalt still survive | W |
| Shalt stand before the Host of Heav'n confest | G2 |
| For ever blessing and for ever bless'd | G2 |
Matthew Prior
(1)
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