| Edward Farr, ed. Select Poetry of the Reign of King James the First. 1847. | | | | Stanzas from “The Holy Roode” | | XXIX. John Davies |
| | | TO thee, my God, my Lord, my Jesus Christ, | |
| Will I ascribe all glory, pow’r and grace; | |
| Thee will I serve, say pagans what they list, | |
| And with the arms of love thee still embrace; | |
| That for my love in love dost deigne to die | 5 |
| This death of shame, my life to glorifie. | |
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| None other booke but thy unclasped side, | |
| Wherein’s contain’d all skills angelical; | |
| None other lesson but “Christ crucified,” | |
| Will I ere learne: for that is all in all; | 10 |
| Wherein selfe curiositie may find | |
| Matter to please the most displeased mind. | |
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| Here, by our Master’s nakedness, we learne | |
| What weeds to weare: by his thorn-crowned head | |
| How to adorne us: and we may discerne | 15 |
| By his most bitter gall how to be fed: | |
| How to revenge, by praying for his foes; | |
| And lying on his crosse, how to repose. | |
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| O work without example! and O grace | |
| Without deserving! Love, O largest love, | 20 |
| Surmounting measure, that for wormes so base, | |
| And basely bad, such hels of woes doth prove! | |
| Had we been friends what would he then have done, | |
| That, being his foes, no woes for us doth shun? | | | | |
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