Fugitive Poetry. 1600–1878/A Model Sermon
A Model Sermon.
It should be brief; if lengthy, it will steep
Our hearts in apathy, our eyes in sleep;
The dull will yawn, the chapel-lounger doze,
Attention Hag, and memory's portal close.
Our hearts in apathy, our eyes in sleep;
The dull will yawn, the chapel-lounger doze,
Attention Hag, and memory's portal close.
It should be warm; a living altar-coal,
To melt the icy heart and charm the soul;
A sapless, dull harangue, however read,
Will never rouse the soul, or raise the dead.
To melt the icy heart and charm the soul;
A sapless, dull harangue, however read,
Will never rouse the soul, or raise the dead.
It should he simple, practical, and clear;
No line spun theory to please the ear;
No curious lay to tickle lettered pride,
And leave the poor and plain unedified.
No line spun theory to please the ear;
No curious lay to tickle lettered pride,
And leave the poor and plain unedified.
It should be tender and affectionate,
As his warm theme who wept lost Salem's fate;
The fiery laws with words of love allayed,
Will sweetly warm and awfully persuade.
As his warm theme who wept lost Salem's fate;
The fiery laws with words of love allayed,
Will sweetly warm and awfully persuade.
It should be manly, just, and rational,
Wisely conceived, and well expressed withal;
Not stuffed with silly notions, apt to stain
A sacred desk, and show a muddy brain.
Wisely conceived, and well expressed withal;
Not stuffed with silly notions, apt to stain
A sacred desk, and show a muddy brain.
It should possess a well-adapted grace,
To situation, audience, time, and place;
A sermon formed for scholars, statesmen, lords,
With peasants and mechanics ill accords.
To situation, audience, time, and place;
A sermon formed for scholars, statesmen, lords,
With peasants and mechanics ill accords.
It should with evangelic beauties bloom,
Like Paul's at Corinth, Athens, or at Rome;
While some Epictetus or Sterne esteem,
A gracious Saviour is the Gospel theme!
Like Paul's at Corinth, Athens, or at Rome;
While some Epictetus or Sterne esteem,
A gracious Saviour is the Gospel theme!
It should have in it many an ardent prayer,
To reach the heart, and fix and fasten there;
When God and man are mutually addressed
God grants a blessing, man is truly blessed.
To reach the heart, and fix and fasten there;
When God and man are mutually addressed
God grants a blessing, man is truly blessed.
It should be closely, well applied at last,
To make the moral nail securely fast:
Thou art the man, and thou alone will make
A Felix tremble and a David quake.
To make the moral nail securely fast:
Thou art the man, and thou alone will make
A Felix tremble and a David quake.