My heart did heave, and there came forth, 'O God'! 
By that I knew that thou wast in the grief, 
To guide and govern it to my relief, 
Making a sceptre of the rod: 
Hadst thou not had thy part, 
Sure the unruly sigh had broke my heart.

But since thy breath gave me both life and shape, 
Thou know'st my tallies; and when there's assigned 
So much breath to a sigh, what's then behind? 
Or if some years with it escape, 
The sigh then only is
A gale to bring me sooner to my bliss.

Thy life on earth was grief, and thou art still
Constant unto it, making it to be
A point of honour now to grieve in me, 
And in thy members suffer ill.
They who lament one cross, 
Thou dying daily, praise thee to thy loss. 

Added: Apr 5 2005 | Viewed: 442 times | Comments (0)

Poet: George Herbert
Poem: Affliction (III)

There are no comments for this poem. Why not be the first one to post something about it?

Are you looking for more information on this poem? Perhaps you are trying to analyze it? The poem, Affliction (III), has not yet been commented on. You can click here to be the first to post a comment about it. Of course you can also always discuss poems by George Herbert with others on the Poetry Connection poetry forum!