So foolish, so absurd am I

So foolish, so absurd am I

Author: John Mason
Published in 7 hymnals

Representative Text

1 So foolish, so absurd am I,
That nothing can be more;
Was ever such a monster seen
Upon the earth before?

2 I dare not look upon the earth,
The witness of my sin;
My conscience is a doom's-day book,
I dare not look within.

3 Upward I dare not cast my eyes,
For there my Judge doth sit;
Nor downward whence the smoke doth rise,
From the infernal pit.

4 How shall I answer at the bar
Of him who is most pure?
I cannot answer for myself,
Myself I can't endure.

5 And as myself I can't endure,
Myself I cannot fly;
Thus fools do sell themselves for slaves,
And what a slave am I!

6 My heart the seet of folly is,
My life a life of sin;
Surely I am more brutal far,
Than ever brute has been.

7 Is this my wit? is this my way,
To make a glorious name?
Are these the thanks I've paid to heaven?
Ah, what a beast I am!

8 The crown is fallen from my head,
My royal robes are gone;
Confusion is my only cloak,
And I must put it on.

9 I am not worthy of the earth,
Nor worthy of the air,
Nor worthy of the wat'ry drop,
But of the damned's fare.

Source: Divine Hymns, or Spiritual Songs: for the Use of Religious Assemblies and Private Christians (7th Ed. Rev.) #124

Author: John Mason

Mason, John. The known facts of his life are scanty. He was the son of a Dissenting Minister, and the grandfather of John Mason, the author of A Treatise on Self-Knowledge. He was educated at Strixton School, Northants, and Clare Hall, Cambridge. After taking his M.A., he became Curate of Isham; and in 1668, Vicar of Stantonbury, Bucks. A little more than five years afterwards he was appointed Rector of Water-Stratford. Here he composed the volume containing The Songs of Praise, his paraphrase of The Song of Solomon, and the Poem on Dives and Lazarus, with which Shepherd's Penitential Cries was afterwards bound up. This volume passed through twenty editions. Besides the Songs of Praise, it contains six Penitential Cries by Mason, and it i… Go to person page >

Text Information

First Line: So foolish, so absurd am I
Author: John Mason
Language: English
Copyright: Public Domain

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A Choice Collection of Hymns and Spiritual Songs #IX

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A Selection of Hymns and Spiritual Songs #H.CXCVI

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A Selection of Hymns and Spiritual Songs #H.CXCVI

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Divine Hymns, or Spiritual Songs #124

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Divine Hymns, or Spiritual Songs #CXXI

Divine Hymns, or Spiritual Songs #d134

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