quote · Legacy record
Did sweeter sounds adorn my flowing tongue Than ever man pronounced, or angel sung; Had I all knowledge, human and divine, That thought can reach, or Science can define: And had I power to give that knowledge birth In all the speeches of the babbling earth; Did Shadrach’s zeal my glowing breast inspire, To weary tortures, and rejoice in fire: Or had I faith like that which Israel saw, When Moses gave them miracles and law; Yet gracious Charity, indulgent guest, Were not thy power exerted in my breast, Those speeches would send up unheeded prayer, That scorn of life would be but wild despair; A tymbal’s sound were better than my voice; My faith were form; my eloquence were noise. ***** Each other gift, which God on man bestows, Its proper bounds and due restriction knows, To one fixt purpose dedicates its power, And finishing its act, exists no more. Thus in obedience to what heaven decrees, Knowledge shall fail, and prophecy decrease, But lasting Charity’s more ample sway, Ne’er bound by time, nor subject to decay, In happy triumph shall for ever live, And endless good diffuse, and endless praise receive.
Did sweeter sounds adorn my flowing tongue Than ever man pronounced, or angel sung; Had I all knowledge, human and divine, That thought can reach, or Science can define: And had I power to give that knowledge birth In all the speeches of the babbling earth; Did Shadrach’s zeal my glowing breast inspire, To weary tortures, and rejoice in fire: Or had I faith like that which Israel saw, When Moses gave them miracles and law; Yet gracious Charity, indulgent guest, Were not thy power exerted in my breast, Those speeches would send up unheeded prayer, That scorn of life would be but wild despair; A tymbal’s sound were better than my voice; My faith were form; my eloquence were noise. ***** Each other gift, which God on man bestows, Its proper bounds and due restriction knows, To one fixt purpose dedicates its power, And finishing its act, exists no more. Thus in obedience to what heaven decrees, Knowledge shall fail, and prophecy decrease, But lasting Charity’s more ample sway, Ne’er bound by time, nor subject to decay, In happy triumph shall for ever live, And endless good diffuse, and endless praise receive.
Approximate author period: c. 1692 AD · renaissance
Meaning not yet available
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Begin with source-checked readings and explanations ↗Attribution & collection notes
- Author or tradition
- Matthew Prior
Attribution: attributed - Country attributed
- Not established
A country attribution does not establish the earliest origin. - Historical period
- Approximate author period: c. 1692 AD · renaissance
author lifetime midpoint (1664–1721)
An author lifetime, approximate period or collection date is not necessarily the date when these words were first written or spoken. - Recorded source
- A Cyclopædia of Sacred Poetical Quotations (catalogued1888) (1888 AD)
Page 107 · printed citation: Prior · subject: CHARITY
A collection's publication date can be later than the words it records.