"Sin" and its power: George Hebert

Lord, with what care hast thou begirt us round!
Parents first season us: then schoolmasters
Deliver us to laws; they send us bound
To rules of reason, holy messengers,
Pulpits and Sundays, sorrow dogging sin,
Afflictions sorted, anguish of all sizes
Fine nets and stratagems to catch us in,
Bibles laid open, millions of surprise,
Blessings beforehand, ties of gratefulness,
The sound of glory ringing in our ears:
Without, our shame; within, our consciences;
Angels and grace, eternal hopes and fears.
Yet all these fences and their whole array
One cunning bosom-sin blows quite away.
George Hebert (1593-1633)

Good Friday, a poem by Christina Rossetti

Am I a stone, and not a sheep,
That I can stand, O Christ, beneath Thy cross,
To number drop by drop Thy blood's slow loss,
And yet not weep?

Not so those women loved
Who with exceeding grief lamented Thee;
Not so fallen Peter weeping bitterly;
Not so the thief was moved;

Not so the Sun and Moon
Which hid their faces in a starless sky,
A horror of great darkness at broad noon--
I, only I.

Yet give not o'er,
But seek Thy sheep, true Shepherd of the flock;
Greater than Moses, turn and look once more
And smite a rock.

A Bruised Reed Shall He Not Break -Christina Rossetti (1830-1894)

I will accept they will to do and be,

Thy hatred and intolerance of sin,

Thy will at least to love, that burns within

And thirsteth after Me:

So I will render fruitful, blessing still

The germs and small beginnings in thy heart,

Because thy will cleaves to the better part, -

Alas, I cannot will.

Dost not thou will, pour soul? Yet I receive

The inner unseen longings of the soul,

I guide them turning towards Me; I control

And charm hearts till they grieve:

If thou desire, it yet shall come to pass,

Tho' thou but wish indeed to choose My love;

For I have power in earth and heaven above. - 

I cannot wish, alas!

What, neither choose nor wish to choose? and yet

I still must strive to win thee and constrain:

For thee I hung upon the cross in pain,

How then can I forget?

If thou as yet dost neither love, nor hate,

Nor choose, nor wish, - resign thyself, be still

Till I infuse love, hatred, longing, will. -

I do not deprecate.

-Christina Rossetti (1830-1894)

This was to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah: “Behold, my servant whom I have chosen, my beloved with whom my soul is well pleased. I will put my Spirit upon him, and he will proclaim justice to the Gentiles. He will not quarrel or cry aloud, nor will anyone hear his voice in the streets; a bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not quench, until he brings justice to victory;
(Matthew 12.17-20 ESV)

Paradise Lost: Book XII, LINES 469-478

After Michael, the archangel, explains to Adam how God will bring good through his sin, through a Savior for all mankind, Milton's Adam has this response:

"O goodness infinite, goodness immense!
That all this good of evil shall produce,
And evil turn to good; more wonderful
Than that which by creation first brought forth
Light out of darkness! Full of doubt I stand,
Whether I should repent me now of sin
By me done and occasioned, or rejoice
Much more, that much more good thereof shall spring,
To God more glory, more good will to men
From god, and over wrath grace shall abound." -JOHN MILTON (1608-1674)

Love II by George Herbert

Immortal Heat, O let thy greater flame

Attract the lesser to it: let those fires,

Which shall consume the world, first make it tame,

And kindle in our hearts such true desires,

As may consume our lusts, and make thee way.

Then shall our hearts pant thee; then shall our brain

All her intervention on thine Altar lay,

And there in hymns send back thy fire again.

Our eyes shall see thee, which before saw dust;

Dust blown by wit, till that they both were blind:

Thou shalt recover all thy goods in kind,

Who wert disseized by usurping lust:

All knees shall bow to thee, all wits shall rise,

And praise him who did make and mend our eyes.

George Hebert