Wesley Corpus

Come then, thou universal Good, And bid my heart be still, And let me meet thee in the wood, Or find thee on the hill: 43A shorthand manuscript precursors to this hymn appears in MS Spencer, 12-13; and a longhand version in MS Richmond, 127-29. In both setting it appears as 10 four-line stanzas. There are several variants among these three that are annotated in MS Spencer. Page 158 My soul to nobler prospects raise, My largest views extend Beyond the bounds of time and space, Where pain and death shall end. Lead to the streams of paradise My raptur'd spirit lead, And bid the tree of life arise And flourish o'er my head: Place me by faith on Pisgah's top The antepast to prove, And then receive thy servant up To see thy face above. Another For One Retired into the Country.44 Hence, lying world, with all thy care, With all thy shews of good or fair, Of beautiful or great! Stand with thy slighted charms aloof, Nor dare invade my peaceful roof, Or trouble my retreat. Far from thy mad fantastic ways, I here have found a resting place Of poor wayfaring men: Calm as the hermit in his grot, I here enjoy my happy lot, And solid pleasures gain. Along the hill or dewy mead In sweet forgetfulness I tread, Or wander thro' the grove, As Adam in his native seat, In all his works my God I meet The object of my love. 44A shorthand manuscript precursors to this hymn appears in MS Spencer, 13-14; and a longhand version in MS Richmond, 146-47. There are several variants among these three that are annotated in MS Spencer. Frank Baker suggests (Representative Verse, 236) that this hymn was composed in April 1751, while Charles was spending a week a St. Anne's Hill, near Chertsey. CW spent a week there with Mrs. Colvil and Miss Mary Digges, "chiefly in reading, singing, and prayer," while recuperating, in part, from the shock of his brother's marriage (cf. Manuscript Journal, Apr. 9, 1751). Page 159 I see his beauty in the flower; To shade my walks, and deck my bower, His love and wisdom join: Him in the feather'd quire I hear, And own, while all my soul is ear, The music is divine!