The Altar

George Herbert 1593 (Montgomery) – 1633 (Bemerton)



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

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on April 23, 2023

28 sec read
234

Quick analysis:

Scheme ABCCDDEEFFCCGGHH
Closest metre Iambic trimeter
Characters 567
Words 91
Stanzas 1
Stanza Lengths 16

George Herbert

The Very Reverend Honourable George Herbert was an Anglican priest. more…

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