Mattins

George Herbert 1593 (Montgomery) – 1633 (Bemerton)



I cannot ope mine eyes,
But thou art ready there to catch
My morning-soul and sacrifice:
Then we must needs for that day make a match.

My God, what is a heart?
Silver, or gold, or precious stone,
Or star, or rainbow, or a part
Of all these things or all of them in one?

My God, what is a heart?
That thou should'st it so eye, and woo,
Pouring upon it all thy art,
As if that thou hadst nothing else to do?

Indeed man's whole estate
Amounts (and richly)  to serve thee:
He did not heav'n and earth create,
Yet studies them, not him by whom they be.

Teach me thy love to know;
That this new light, which now I see,
May both the work and workman show:
Then by a sun-beam I will climb to thee.

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on April 23, 2023

43 sec read
132

Quick analysis:

Scheme xaxa Bxbx Bcbc dede fefe
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 692
Words 142
Stanzas 5
Stanza Lengths 4, 4, 4, 4, 4

George Herbert

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

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