| Henry Charles Beeching, ed. (1859–1919). Lyra Sacra: A Book of Religious Verse. 1903. | | | | The Contrite Heart | | By William Cowper (1731–1800) |
| | | THE LORD will happiness divine | |
| On contrite hearts bestow; | |
| Then tell me, gracious God, is mine | |
| A contrite heart or no. | |
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| I hear, but seem to hear in vain, | 5 |
| Insensible as steel; | |
| If aught is felt, ’tis only pain, | |
| To find I cannot feel. | |
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| My best desires are faint and few, | |
| I fain would strive for more; | 10 |
| But when I cry, “My strength renew!” | |
| Seem weaker than before. | |
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| O make this heart rejoice or ache, | |
| Decide this doubt for me; | |
| And if it be not broken, break,— | 15 |
| And heal it if it be. | | | | |
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