The Crosse
The Strange Work of the Cross
The speaker marvels at the cross's strange effect, which drives him to seek God with his whole household.
What is this strange and unfamiliar thing?1 To make me long and seek and faint and die until I had a place where I could sing and serve you—and not only I, but all my wealth and family might join together to raise your honor as our purpose.
The Cross Thwarts Our Service
After long striving, the desired end is given only to have the power to serve taken away.
And then, when after much delay, much wrestling, many a combat, this dear end—so much desired—is finally given: to take away my power to serve you; to loosen all my abilities, confound my designs, and lay my threatenings bleeding on the ground.23
Sickness of Body and Soul
The speaker laments a double affliction—physical fever and the painful memory of past devotion.
One fever lives in my bones, another in my soul—the memory of what I would do for you, if only my groans could once be accepted as harmony. In every way I am a weak, disabled thing, except when I look at that memory, where strength itself stings.✦
Frustrated Will and Divine Contradiction
Even when the speaker's will is set on God's glory, events turn against him, leaving him alive to grief.
Besides, things don't fall out according to my will, even when my will is set on your renown. You keep turning the edge of everything against me, lifting me up only to throw me down—so that even when my hopes seem to have succeeded, I'm alive to grief, and as dead to them.
The Paradox of Fulfilled Hopes
Having one's aim only to be farther from it makes hopes a torture and turns Paradise into a weed.
To reach my goal, yet feel farther from it than when I first drew my bow; to make my hopes my torment, and the payment for all my suffering another suffering — that is to go hungry in the midst of plenty, and even in Paradise to be a weed.45
Surrender to the Cross
The speaker cries for relief, then finds resolution in echoing Christ's words: 'Thy will be done.'
Ah, my dear Father, please ease my pain.6 These contradictions crush me; these conflicting actions tie me in knots and cut my heart. And yet, because these contradictions of yours are truly a cross felt by your Son, I say only four words: 'Thy will be done.'78
Read the original English
What is this strange and uncouth thing? To make me sigh, and seek, and faint, and die, Untill I had some place, where I might sing, And serve thee; and not onely I, But all my wealth, and familie might combine To set thy honour up, as our designe.
And then when after much delay, Much wrastling, many a combate, this deare end, So much desir'd, is giv'n, to take away My power to serve thee; to unbend All my abilities, my designes confound, And lay my threatnings bleeding on the ground.
One ague dwelleth in my bones, Another in my soul (the memorie What I would do for thee, if once my grones Could be allow'd for harmonie) I am in all a weak disabled thing, Save in the sight thereof, where strength doth sting.
Besides, things sort not to my will, Ev'n when my will doth studie thy renown: Thou turnest th' edge of all things on me still, Taking me up to throw me down: So that, ev'n when my hopes seem to be sped, I am to grief alive, to them as dead.
To have my aim, and yet to be Farther from it then when I bent my bow; To make my hopes my torture, and the fee Of all my woes another wo, Is in the midst of delicates to need, And ev'n in Paradise to be a weed.
Ah my deare Father, ease my smart! These contrarieties crush me: these crosse actions Doe winde a rope about, and cut my heart: And yet since these thy contradictions Are properly a crosse felt by thy sonne, With but foure words, my words, Thy will be done.
Scripture echoes
- ↩Ps.31.10 — Be gracious to me, O LORD, for I am in distress; my eye wastes away with grief, my soul and my belly with groaning.
Notes
- 1 ↩Early modern 'uncouth' here means unknown/unfamiliar/alien, not crude or ill-mannered; modernized accordingly to avoid a later sense.
- 2 ↩Source 'unbend' keeps the bow-image of releasing tension and force; rendered 'loosen' for contemporary readability while keeping the sense of disabling the speaker's powers.
- 3 ↩Herbert's 'threatnings' are bold vows of what the speaker would do for God, not hostile threats; kept as 'threatenings' to preserve that charged Early Modern sense.
- 4 ↩Early modern 'fee' here means the recompense or return received for suffering, not a legal charge; rendered as 'payment'.
- 5 ↩Source 'then' is the early modern spelling of comparative 'than' (farther from it than when I bent my bow).
- 6 ↩Early modern 'smart' means sharp pain or sting of suffering, not cleverness; rendered as 'pain'.
- 7 ↩'crosse actions' carries both 'actions at cross-purposes' and the poem's Cross; rendered as 'crossing actions' to keep the double force without archaic spelling.
- 8 ↩Herbert's clause is elliptical after the 'since' clause: the four words are the speaker's answer/endurance under the cross, not an added narrative frame.
The Temple: Sacred Poems and Private Ejaculations companion
A prayer for every moment, already on your phone
Chosen Portion puts a curated historic prayer in front of you each day — so the words are there before the moment arrives.
Chosen Portion is the digital descendant of the carried prayer book: the short daily prayers this collection preserves, delivered one a day to your pocket.
- One short, memorable prayer delivered daily — build your repertoire a card at a time
- Prayers matched to real situations: fear, gratitude, decisions, grief, sleep
- Save favourites into your personal pocket collection you can open anywhere