Sin the Cause of Sorrow

The pains that wait our fleeting breath

Author: Anne Steele (1760)
Published in 1 hymnal

Representative Text

I. The pains that wait our fleeting breath,
Too oft my mournful thoughts employ;
Amid the gloomy shades of death,
The hope of heav'n, is life, is joy.

II. But ah! how soon the blissful ray
With guilt o'ershaded, disappears:
'Tis sin alone, that coulds my day,
'Tis sin alone, deserves my tears.

III. Yes, I have cause indeed to mourn,
When God conceals his radiant face;
And pray and long 'till he return,
With smiles of sweet forgiving grace.

IV. Then weep my eyes, complain my heart,
But mourn not, hopeless of relief;
For sov'reign mercy will impart
Its healing beams, to ease my grief.

V. The Savior pleads his dying blood,
Awake my hope, away my fears;
Through him I'll seek my absent God,
'Till his returning smile appears.

Source: Poems on Subjects Chiefly Devotional, Vol. 1 #75

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Author: Anne Steele

Anne Steele was the daughter of Particular Baptist preacher and timber merchant William Steele. She spent her entire life in Broughton, Hampshire, near the southern coast of England, and devoted much of her time to writing. Some accounts of her life portray her as a lonely, melancholy invalid, but a revival of research in the last decade indicates that she had been more active and social than what was previously thought. She was theologically conversant with Dissenting ministers and "found herself at the centre of a literary circle that included family members from various generations, as well as local literati." She chose a life of singleness to focus on her craft. Before Christmas in 1742, she declined a marriage proposal from contemporar… Go to person page >

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Text Information

Text Information

First Line:	The pains that wait our fleeting breath
Title:	Sin the Cause of Sorrow
Author:	Anne Steele (1760)
Language:	English
Publication Date:	1760
Copyright:	This text is in the public domain in the United States because it was published before 1929.