"I know all these, and have them in my hand;
Therefore not sealed, but with open eyes
I fly to thee, and fully understand
Both the main sale, and the commodities;
And at what rate and price I have thy love;
With all the circumstances that may move:
Yet through the labyrinths, not my grovelling wit,
But thy silk-twist let down from heav'n to me,
Did both conduct and teach me, how, by it,
To climb to thee."
A splendid retrospect this of a short life: and with what accurate
knowledge of art, science, policy, literature, of powers of body and mind.
Herbert's poems are full of this sterling sense and philosophical
reflection--the mintage of a master mind.
Addison's version of the twenty-third Psalm has entered into every
household and penetrated every heart by its sweetness and pathos. There is
equal gentleness and sincerity in Herbert's:
"The God of love my shepherd is,
And he that doth me feed.
While he is mine, and I am his,
What can I want or need?
"He leads me to the tender grass,
Where I both feed and rest;
Then to the streams that gently pass:
In both I have the best.
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