Desiring to bid Adieu to the World

Vexatious world, thy flatt'ring snares

Author: Anne Steele (1760)
Published in 1 hymnal

Representative Text

I. Vexatious world, thy flatt'ring snares
Too long have held my easy heart;
And shalt thou still engross my cares?
Vain world, depart.

II. I want delights thou canst not give,
Thy joys are bitterness and woe;
My pining spirit cannot live
On ought below.

III. Enchanting prospects court the eye,
And gay alluring pleasures smile;
But in the fond pursuit they die:
Ah fruitless toil!

IV. But grief, substantial grief is here,
As gloomy as Egyptian night;
When will the smiling dawn appear
Of true delight?

V. How oft convinc'd shall I complain
That happiness cannot be found?
Yet sighing, mourning, still in vain,
Cleave to the ground.

VI. Look, Sov'reign Goodness, from the skies,
Look down with gently-pitying eye;
O bid my fainting spirit rise:
To thee I sigh.

VII. With beams of sweet celestial light,
Dispel the dark oppressive gloom;
Display the mansions of delight,
And bid me come.

VIII. Those shining realms of endless day
Could I one happy moment view,
Then should my soul with transport say,
Vain world, adieu.

Source: Poems on Subjects Chiefly Devotional, Vol. 2 #22

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 >

Text Information

First Line: Vexatious world, thy flatt'ring snares
Title: Desiring to bid Adieu to the World
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.

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Poems on Subjects Chiefly Devotional, Vol. 2 #22

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