My heart lies dead, and no increase

Author: George Herbert

Herbert, George, M.A., the fifth son of Richard Herbert and Magdalen, the daughter of Sir Richard Newport, was born at his father's seat, Montgomery Castle, April 3, 1593. He was educated at Westminster School, and at Trinity College, Cambridge, graduating B.A. in 1611. On March 15, 1615, he became Major Fellow of the College, M.A. the same year, and in 1619 Orator for the University. Favoured by James I., intimate with Lord Bacon, Bishop Andrewes, and other men of influence, and encouraged in other ways, his hopes of Court preferment were somewhat bright until they were dispelled by the deaths of the Duke of Richmond, the Marquis of Hamilton, and then of King James himself. Retiring into Kent, he formed the resolution of taking Holy Orders… Go to person page >

My stock lies dead, and no increase. G. Herbert. [Divine Grace Desired.] Appeared in his posthumous work The Temple, 1633 (ed. Chandos Classics, 1887, p. 107), in 6 stanzas of 3 lines, with the refrain "Drop from above!" It is given in its original form in a few collections, and again in several American hymnals, as "My heart lies dead, and no increase." It is a sweetly pathetic hymn for private devotion.

--John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology (1907)