Some of John Newton's rhymes are dreadful

Begone, unbelief;
my Saviour is near,
and for my relief
will surely appear;
by prayer let me wrestle,
and he will perform;
with Christ in the vessel,
I smile at the storm.

Though dark be my way,
since he is my guide,
'tis mine to obey,
'tis his to provide;
though cisterns be broken
and creatures all fail,
the word he has spoken
shall surely prevail.

His love in time past
forbids me to think
he'll leave me at last
in trouble to sink;
while each Ebenezer
I have in review
confirms his good pleasure
to help me quite through.

Why should I complain
of want or distress,
temptation or pain?
He told me no less;
the heirs of salvation,
I know from his word,
through much tribulation
must follow their Lord.

How bitter that cup,
no heart can conceive,
which he drank right up
that sinners might live;
his way was much rougher
and darker than mine;
did Jesus thus suffer,
and shall I repine?

Since all that I meet
shall work for my good,
the bitter is sweet,
the med'cine is food;
though painful at present,
'twill cease before long;
and then, O how pleasant
the conqueror's song!

Comments

Anonymous said…
Ah, but look at the sentiments, or rather Biblical truths!
The echoes of Scripture are what I love most.
Your posts are often most timely. (Is there a bit of cynghanedd in there?!)
MartinY said…
Um, could it be something to do with the way you pronounce the words? Wouldn't 18c English pronunciation been somewhat different?
Anonymous said…
No, I meant in the last two sentences of my comment, 'most' and 'posts'. I'm sorry to those out there who are far more literary than I am. It's my attempt a a weak joke. (Doh!)
Alan said…
Please see the post on cynghanedd in French!
Anonymous said…
I can still see nothing wrong with his rhyming; it's a site better than some of this modern poetry that doesn't rhyme at all and is really just prose - frequently poor prose.
Anonymous said…
On reflection, shouldn't that have been a 'sight' better than .... etc?

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