Let man\u2019s soul be a sphere, and then, in this,
\nTh\u2019 intelligence that moves, devotion is ;
\nAnd as the other spheres, by being grown
\nSubject to foreign motion, lose their own,
\nAnd being by others hurried every day,
\nScarce in a year their natural form obey ;
\nPleasure or business, so, our souls admit
\nFor their first mover, and are whirl\u2019d by it.
\nHence is\u2019t, that I am carried towards the west,
\nThis day, when my soul\u2019s form bends to the East.
\nThere I should see a Sun by rising set,
\nAnd by that setting endless day beget.
\nBut that Christ on His cross did rise and fall,
\nSin had eternally benighted all.
Yet dare I almost be glad, I do not see
\nThat spectacle of too much weight for me.
\nWho sees Gods face, that is self-life, must die ;
\nWhat a death were it then to see God die ?
\nIt made His own lieutenant, Nature, shrink,
\nIt made His footstool crack, and the sun wink.
\nCould I behold those hands, which span the poles
\nAnd tune all spheres at once, pierced with those holes ?
\nCould I behold that endless height, which is
\nZenith to us and our antipodes,
\nHumbled below us ? or that blood, which is
\nThe seat of all our soul\u2019s, if not of His,
\nMade dirt of dust, or that flesh which was worn
\nBy God for His apparel, ragg\u2019d and torn ?
\nIf on these things I durst not look, durst I
\nOn His distressed Mother cast mine eye,
\nWho was God\u2019s partner here, and furnish\u2019d thus
\nHalf of that sacrifice which ransom\u2019d us ?
\nThough these things as I ride be from mine eye,
\nThey\u2019re present yet unto my memory,
\nFor that looks towards them ; and Thou look\u2019st towards me,
\nO Saviour, as Thou hang\u2019st upon the tree.
\nI turn my back to thee but to receive
\nCorrections till Thy mercies bid Thee leave.
\nO think me worth Thine anger, punish me,
\nBurn off my rust, and my deformity ;
\nRestore Thine image, so much, by Thy grace,
\nThat Thou mayst know me, and I\u2019ll turn my face.<\/p>\n
\u201d\u201cJohn Donne (1572-1631)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Let man\u2019s soul be a sphere, and then, in this, Th\u2019 intelligence that moves, devotion is ; And as the other spheres, by being grown Subject to foreign motion, lose their own, And being by others hurried every day, Scarce…<\/span><\/p>\n