And bring those prisoners to their doom,
Its paths are mysteries.
Shepherd’s poems were called ‘Penitential Cries,’ and were published with Mason’s Songs of Praise in 1693. His best-known hymn begins
Alas, my God, that we should be
Such strangers to each other!
O that as friends we might agree,
And walk, and talk together!
Most of his hymns have vigour and freshness, but there is generally something which hinders them from becoming hymns of the first class. The following verses are taken from a hymn entitled, ‘Lamenting the Loss of First Love,’ and were probably known to Cowper—
O that my soul was now as fair
As it has sometimes been,