A Cyclopædia of Sacred Poetical Quotations / Consisting of Choice Passages from the Sacred Poetry of All Ages and Countries, Classified and Arranged, for Facility of Reference, Under Subject Headings; Illustrated by Striking Passages from Scripture, and Forming Altogether a Complete Book of Devotional Poetry.

by Unknown

AFFECTION.

Set your affection upon my words; desire them, and ye shall be instructed.—Wisdom, vi. 2.

Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth.—Colossians, iii. 2.

Be kindly affectioned one to another.—Romans, xii. 10.

Heavenly Father! God of love,

Look with mercy from above;

Let thy streams of comfort roll,

Let them fill and cheer my soul.

Love celestial, ardent fire;

O extreme of sweet desire!

Spread thy bright, thy gentle flame,

Swift o’er all my mental frame.

Sweet affections flow from hence,

Sweet above the joys of sense;

Let me thus for ever be,

Full of gladness, full of thee.

Parnel.

Precious are the kind affections

Which around this life entwine,

Making earth, with all its troubles,

Something more than half divine.

But, alas! they fade and perish,

Like the bright and fragrant flowers,

Sorrow blights, and death destroys them,

And their beauty time devours.

’Tis not so with those affections,

That are set on heavenly things;

They will bloom and flourish ever,

Watered by eternal springs;

Warmed by everlasting sunshine,

Sheltered from the storms of earth,

Ever growing and increasing,

Knowing nought of drought or dearth.

Anon.