Preparatory Meditations - Second Series: 146

Edward Taylor 1642 (Coventry) – 1729



(Canticles 6:13. Return, oh Shulamite, Return, Return)

My dear, dear Lord, I know not what to say:
Speech is too coarse a web for me to clothe
My love to Thee in or it to array
Or make a mantle. Would'st Thou not such loathe?
Thy love to me's too great for me to shape
A vesture for the same at any rate.

When as Thy love doth touch my heart down-tossed
It tremblingly runs, seeking Thee its all,
And as a child when it his nurse hath lost
Runs seeking her, and after her doth call.
So when Thou hid'st from me, I seek and sigh.
Thou sayest, 'Return, return, Oh Shulamite.'

Rent out on use Thy love, Thy love I pray.
My love to Thee shall be Thy rent, and I
Thee use on use, int'rest on int'rest pay.
There's none extortion in such usury.

I'll pay Thee use on for 't and therefore
Thou shalt become the greatest usurer.
But yet the principal I'll ne'er restore.
The same is Thine and mine. We shall not jar.
And so this blessed usury shall be
Most profitable both to Thee and me.

And shouldst Thou hide Thy shining face most fair
Away from me. And in a sinking wise
My trembling beating heart brought nigh t' despair
Should cry to Thee and in a trembling guise,
Lord, quicken it. Drop in its ears delight,
Saying, 'Return, return, my Shulamite.'

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

1:15 min read
54

Quick analysis:

Scheme X ABABXC DEDEFC AFAG HGHXGG IJIJXC
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 1,226
Words 245
Stanzas 6
Stanza Lengths 1, 6, 6, 4, 6, 6

Edward Taylor

Edward Taylor was an English singer, writer on music, and Gresham Professor of Music from 1837. more…

All Edward Taylor poems | Edward Taylor Books

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