And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away." Westcliffe, Isle of Wight, T. V. FOSBERY. IN preparing the following Hymns and Poems for the use of the Sick and Suffering, it was natural to turn to what the Church had done for her afflicted members, and to try whether the services which she has provided for their benefit could not, at least in part, be made available in connexion with this Volume of Sacred Poetry. The Offices for the Visitation and Communion of the Sick, in the Prayer Book, are conceived in a spirit of such true sympathy with the suffering, and so combine the deepest devotion with the wisest and most faithful instruction, as to render them in sickness and sorrow inestimably precious. The exhortations and prayers in the former of these services are here placed, in their due order, one before every section into which the volume is divided; and a sentence, taken from this, forms the heading to each of the several poems contained in the section. These sentences give to the poems remarkable significance and definiteness of application. The Rubrics, which are unusually full and instructive, the Absolution,-and the Communion Service; all which necessarily imply the presence of the minister; are not thus employed. Those who may first learn, perhaps in solitude, from these pages, the great blessing provided for them in the Service for the Visitation of the Sick, will be, I trust, amongst the most desirous, as certainly they will be the best prepared, to avail themselves, when they can do so, of the presence and ministrations of such as are 66 over them in the Lord". ministering to them in the words or in the spirit of this beautiful Service, as their respective necessities may require. In compiling this volume, I have but assisted one to whom it owes its chief value, and who “ having learned from the Service for the Visitation of the Sick the meaning and value of sickness, earnestly desires to recommend the frequent perusal of that Service to the sick and suffering members of Christ's body." There are here two hundred and twenty-six separate pieces. Of this number ninety-three are by writers who lived prior to the eighteenth century : the rest are modern. The poems of George Herbert, by which, says Walton, "he hath comforted and raised many a dejected and discomposed soul," are peculiarly suitable for the purposes of this work. But as he is the best known of all the older sacred poets, it did not seem desirable to insert very many of his poems. There are accordingly only fourteen in this volume, and to those best acquainted with their value this will seem but a small number. From the works of Henry Vaughan nineteen poems have been selected. poems have of late years been reprinted in different collections, deserves to be far better known. He was born on the banks of the Usk, in Brecknockshire, in 1621; and because that part of Wales was anciently peopled by the Silures, he was quaintly styled the Silurist. Though then very young, he was engaged in the study of the law in London, at the breaking out of the great rebellion. But he was immediately taken home by his friends, and there in tranquil retirement "he followed the pleasant paths of poetry and philology." He soon exchanged the law for physic, in which he became eminently skilled, and spent the greater part of his useful and happy life near his native place in Brecknockshire, where he died in 1695. This writer, a few of whose Vaughan ever held the memory of George Herbert in affectionate reverence. He could have known him only by his works, as Herbert died when Vaughan was very young; but in the preface to one of his works, speaking of the success of the former in purifying the stream of song, he calls him "the blessed man, Mr. George Herbert;-whose holy life and verse," he adds, " gained many pious converts, of whom I am the least." The sacred poetry of the age of Herbert and Vaughan is becoming daily better known, and more truly appreciated. Its occasional conceits and obscurity do not hinder men from acknowledging its fulness, purity, and truth. To some few, however, this old poetry may seem at first harsh and strange-their taste having been formed in a different school. Such readers will be amply repaid for whatever effort it may cost them to grapple with its first difficulties. There is much and precious instruction to be gathered amongst these old poems. They have a strength and depth in them which many more graceful verses have not. They enshrine thoughts worthy to be treasured up in the heart, instead of feebly expressing with much reiteration-what may be called the sentimentality of religion. The love of God was not to these men a passing emotion; it was their principle of life. They and their works should be had in honour amongst us. The poems of Herbert in this volume are reprinted from the edition of 1641, but the modern spelling of later editions has been followed. Many of Vaughan's poems were transcribed at first from the copy of the first edition (1650) of his "Silex Scintillans, or Sacred Poetry and Private Ejaculations," in the British Museum; but the second which appeared in his lifetime (1655), and is probably the more correct, and which also contains about fifty additional poems, has since been consulted; for which purpose it was kindly lent by its possessor, the Rev. H. F. Lyte. It is a rare and valuable book. The old spelling has here been retained, except where there seemed any risk of its obscuring the sense. · Nothing has been taken from the writings of any living English poet without the author's express permission, which has always been most readily and kindly granted. Those poems which have not before been published are distinguished by an asterisk prefixed to each. Two of them, however, viz. those at pp. 45 and 129 had already been printed for private circulation. Where only part of a short poem has been retained, the word "Part" is prefixed to the portion thus selected. But no liberty has been taken with the poetry itself. The words of the several writers, (in the case of some living authors with their latest corrections,) have been faithfully given in every instance. Not one word in the whole volume has been knowingly and wilfully altered. In a very few instances it was found necessary to trust, at least for the present, to compilations; but wherever it was possible, the best editions of the author's works have been consulted. T. V. F. NOTE TO THE SECOND EDITION. To the two hundred and twenty-six pieces of the former edition, all of which are here retained, seven others have been added, which will be found at pp. 269, 275, 278, 280, 285, 288, 321. The work has been carefully revised, and a few changes, chiefly verbal, have been made in the introductory address. T. V. F. Sunningdale, May 2, 1850. |