Lord, who hast suffered all for me,
My peace and pardon to procure,
The lighter cross I bear for Thee,
Help me with patience to endure.
The storm of loud repining hush,
I would in humble silence mourn;
Why should the unburnt, though burning bush,
Be angry as the crackling thorn?
Ah! were I buffeted all day,
Mocked, crowned with thorns, and spit upon,
I yet should have no right to say,
My great distress is mine alone.
Let me not angrily declare
No pain was ever sharp like mine,
Nor murmur at the cross I bear,
But rather weep, remembering Thine.
Cowper’s hymns are not all the voice of the penitent or of the anxious
believer. He shared Newton’s opinion as to the classification of
Calvinists, and two of his compositions evidently refer to the second
basket of figs. They illustrate Hazlitt’s criticism, ‘His satire is
excellent. It is pointed and forcible, with the polished manners of
the gentleman and the honest indignation of the virtuous man.’[162]
The following verses are a good example of his satire.