Desiring a Taste of Real Joy

Representative Text

I. Why should my spirit cleave to earth,
This nest of worms, this vile abode?
Why thus forget her nobler birth,
Nor wish to trace the heav'nly road?

II. How barren of sincere delight,
Are all the fairest scenes below!
Through beauteous colours charms the sight,
They only varnish real woe.

III. Were I to mount the flying wind,
And search the wide creation round,
There's nothing here to suit the mind;
On earth no solid joy is found.

IV. Oh! could my weary spirit rise,
And panting with intense desire,
Reach the bright mansions in the skies,
And mix among the blissful choir:

V. How should I look, with pitying eye,
On this low world of gloomy care,
And wonder, how my soul could lie
Wrapp'd up in the shades and darkness there!

VI. Say, happy natives of the sky,
What is it makes your heav'n above?
You dwell beneath your father's eye,
And feast forever on his love.

VII. My God, thy presence can impart
A glimpse of heav'n to earth and night;
O smile, and bless my mournful heart,
Sweet foretaste of sincere delight.

VIII. Then shall my soul contented stay
'Till my Redeemer calls me home:
Yet let me oft with transport say,
"Come, O my Lord, my Saviour, come."

Source: Poems on Subjects Chiefly Devotional, Vol. 1 #112

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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:	Why should my spirit cleave to earth
Title:	Desiring a Taste of Real Joy
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.