WORLD.
The Lord is the true God, he is the living God, and an everlasting king:
He hath made the earth by his power, he hath established the world by his wisdom.—Jeremiah, x. 10, 12.
What shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?—Mark, viii. 36.
If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you.
If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you.—John, xv. 18, 19.
Be not conformed to this world, but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect will of God.—Romans, xii. 2.
The friendship of the world is enmity with God: whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world, is the enemy of God.—James, iv. 4.
And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.—I. John, ii. 17.
The weary mariner so fast not flies
An howling tempest, harbour to attain;
Nor shepherd hastes, when frays of wolves arise,
So fast to fold, to save his bleating train!
As I, wing’d with contempt and just disdain,
Now fly the world and what it most doth prize,
And sanctuary seek, free to remain
From wounds of abject times, and envy’s eyes:
To me this world did once seem sweet and fair,
While sense’s light mind’s perspective kept blind;
Now like imagin’d landscapes in the air,
And weeping rainbows, her best joys I find;
Or if aught here is had that praise should have,
It is an obscure life and silent grave.
William Drummond.
Of this fair volume which we “world” do name,
If we the sheets and leaves could turn with care,
Of him who it corrects and did it frame,
We clear might read the art and wisdom rare,
Find out his power, which wildest powers doth tame,
His providence extending everywhere,
His justice, which proud rebels doth not spare,
In every page—no period of the same.
But silly we, like foolish children, rest
Well pleas’d with colour’d vellum, leaves of gold,
Fair dangling ribbands—leaving what is best;
On the great writer’s sense ne’er taking hold;
Or if by chance we stay our minds on aught,
It is some picture on the margin wrought.
William Drummond.
Seek well another world; who studies this,
Travels in clouds, seeks manna where none is.
Henry Vaughan.
Lord, mail my heart with faith, and be my shield,
And if a world confront me, I’ll not yield.
Francis Quarles.
To tremble, (as the creatures of an hour
Ought,) at the view of an Almighty power
Before His presence, at whose awful throne
All tremble in all worlds except our own;
To supplicate His mercy, love His ways,
And prize them above pleasure, wealth, or praise;
Though common sense, allowed a casting voice,
And free from bias, must approve the choice;
Convicts a man fanatic in the extreme,
And wild as madness in the world’s esteem.
Cowper.
The joy that vain amusements give,
O, sad conclusion that it brings,
The honey of a crowded hive
Defended by a thousand stings.
’Tis thus the world rewards the fools
That live upon her treacherous smiles;
She leads them blindfold, by her rules,
And ruins all whom she beguiles.
Cowper.
What is this world?
What but a spacious burial-field unwalled,
Strewed with death’s spoils, the spoils of animals,
Savage and tame, and full of dead men’s bones?
The very turf on which we tread once lived,
And we that live must lend our carcases,
To cover our own offspring: in their turns,
They too must cover theirs.
Blair.
Unthinking, idle, wild, and young,
I laughed and danced, I talked and sung,
And proud of health, of freedom vain,
Dreamed not of sorrow, care, nor pain:
Oh! then in those light hours of glee,
I thought the world was made for me.
But when the hour of trial came,
And sickness shook my feeble frame,
And folly’s gay pursuits were o’er,
And I could sing and dance no more,
Oh! then I thought bow sad ’twould be
Were only this world made for me.
Princess Amelia.
Virtue, for ever frail as fair below,
Her tender nature suffers in the crowd,
Nor touches on the world without a stain;
The world’s infectious.
Young.
The world’s a school
Of wrong, and what proficients swarm around
We must or imitate or disapprove;
Must ’list as their accomplices or foes;
That stains our innocence, this wounds our peace.
Young.
Thrice happy world, where gilded toys
No more disturb our thoughts, no more pollute our joys!
There light or shade no more succeed by turns,
There reigns the eternal sun with an unclouded ray,
There all is calm as night, yet all immortal day,
And truth for ever shines, and love for ever burns.
Isaac Watts.
The flower that smiles to-day,
To-morrow dies;
All that we wish to stay,
Tempts, and then flies:
What is this world’s delight?
Lightning, that mocks the night,
Brief even as bright.
Shelley.
Dreams cannot picture a world so fair—
Sorrow and death may not enter there;
Time doth not breathe on its fadeless bloom,
For beyond the clouds, and beyond the tomb,
It is there, it is there, my child!
Mrs. Hemans.
Thou art, O God, the life and light
Of all this wondrous world we see;
Its glow by day, its smile by night,
Are but reflections caught from Thee;
Where’er we turn, Thy glories shine,
And all things fair and bright are Thine.
Thomas Moore.
O world! how little do thy joys
Concern a soul that knows
Itself not made for such low toys
As thy poor hand bestows!
Then take away thy tinsel wares,
That dazzle here our eyes;
Let us go up above the stars,
Where all our treasure lies.
The way we know: our dearest Lord
Himself has gone before:
And has engaged His faithful word,
To open us the door.
Hicks.
The world is too much with us; late and soon,
Getting and spending, we lay waste our powers.
Wordsworth.
Pass on, relentless world! I grieve
No more for all that thou hast riven;
Pass on, in God’s name, only leave
The things thou never yet hast given—
A heart at ease, a mind at home,
Affections fixed above thy sway,
Faith set upon a world to come,
And patience through life’s little day.
George Lunt.