A Thought in Sickness

Representative Text

I. How weak, how languid is th'immortal mind!
Prison'd in clay! ah, how unlike her birth!
These noble pow'rs for active life design'd,
Despress'd with pain and grief, sink down to earth.

II. Unworthy dwelling of a heav'n-born guest!
Ah no!—for sin, the cause of grief and pain,
Taints her first purity, forbids her rest;
And justly is she doom'd to wear the chain.

III. To wear the chain—how long? 'till grace divine
By griefs and pains shall wean from earthly toys;
'Till grace convince, invigorate, refine,
And thus prepare the mind for heav'nly joys.

IV. Then, O my God, let this reviving thought
To all thy dispensations reconcile;
Be present pains with future blessings fraught,
And let my chearful hope look up and smile.

V. Look up, and smile, to hail the glorious day,
(Jesus, to thee this blissful hope I owe,)
When I shall leave this tenement of clay,
With all its frailties, all its pains below.

VI. Jesus, in thee, in thee I trust, to raise,
Renew'd, refin'd, and fair, this frail abode;
Then my whole frame shall speak thy wond'rous praise,
Forever consecrated to my God.

Source: Poems on Subjects Chiefly Devotional, Vol. 2 #118

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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:	How sweet, how languid is th'immortal mind!
Title:	A Thought in Sickness
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.