Wesley Corpus

Plague and curse I now inherit, Fears, and wars, and storms within, Pain, and agony of spirit, Sin chastising me for sin, Weeping, woe, and lamentation, Vain desire, and fruitless prayer, Guilt, and shame, and condemnation, Doubt, distraction, and despair. Ye who now injoy his favour, Husband well the precious grace, Never lose, like me, your Saviour, Never break from his embrace: Do not by your lightness grieve him; Youthful lusts and idols flee, Little children, never leave him, Never lose your God like me. Punish'd after my demerit, Dives-like on you I call; Lest my portion you inherit, Take example by my fall; Lest your joy be turn'd to mourning, Lest ye come into my hell; Listen to the solemn warning, Keep the grace from which I fell. Dead to praise, and wealth, and beauty, Cast on Christ your every care, Walk in all the paths of duty, Praying, watching unto prayer: Pray; and when the answer's given, When ye find the passage free, When your faith hath open'd heaven, Faithful souls, remember me! Page 100 Hymns for One Fallen from Grace. Hymn II.66 Griev'd with the penal want of grace, And banish'd from my Father's face, Far from the paradise of love, O'er earth's bleak wilderness I rove. A wandring discontented Cain I of my punishment complain, Burthen'd with more than I can bear, In all the sadness of despair. For years I have my vileness seen, A man of lips and heart unclean, Yet can I no deliverance see, No end of sin and grief for me. Ah! What avails it now, that I Could once to Christ my Lord draw nigh, Knew he had borne my sins away, And saw the dawning of his day! That sudden flash of heavenly light Which once broke in upon my night, Has made my darkness visible, And left me to a deeper hell. Ah! What avail'd the short-liv'd power, The triumph of one lucid hour! Again enthrall'd, and doubly curst I am, and viler than at first. My lusts have re-usurp'd the sway, And forc'd my strugling soul t' obey; My strugling soul in sin remains, Indignant, as a king in chains. 66Manuscript precursors of this hymn appear in MS Cheshunt, 66-68; and MS Clarke, 74-75. Page 101