Dialogue
The Wretch's Lament
The soul confesses its own instability and worthlessness, realizing that all its efforts cannot make it valuable before God.
Sweetest Savior, if my soul were only worth having, I'd quickly control any thought of wavering.1 But when all my care and labor cannot make your wretch so full of stains count as gain, what delight or hope remains?2
The Lord's Rebuke
Christ interrupts the soul's self-accusation, asserting that the measure of worth belongs to Him alone and that He alone can declare the soul's value through His own redemptive cost.
Child, is the balance yours? Are the weight and the measure yours?3 If I say, 'You will be mine,' don't put your finger on my treasure.4 Only he who was sold for man can see what the gains of having you amount to—he who transferred the accounts to me.5
The Surrender
The soul acknowledges that God's favor is beyond merit or comprehension and surrenders every claim, renouncing its own design.
But just as I can see no merit leading to this favor, so the way to make me fit for it is beyond my understanding.6 Since the reason, then, is yours, the way is not mine: I renounce the whole design. Sin renounces its claim, and I surrender.7
Heart-Broken Consent
The creature longs to follow the Lord's example of self-emptying, but when Christ describes His own descent into suffering, the soul is overwhelmed and cries out in broken-hearted love.
That's all—if only I could have it without your complaints, and my clay, my creature, would follow my resignation.✦8 So that as I freely gave up my glory and what I deserved, left all joys to feel all pain— Ah!✦9 No more: you break my heart.✦
Read the original English
SWeetest Saviour, if my soul Were but worth the having, Quickly should I then controll Any thought of waving. But when all my care and pains Cannot give the name of gains To thy wretch so full of stains; What delight or hope remains?
What (childe) is the ballance thine, Thine the poise and measure? If I say, Thou shalt be mine, Finger not my treasure. What the gains in having thee Do amount to, onely he, Who for man was sold, can see, That transferr'd th'accounts to me.
But as I can see no merit, Leading to this favour; So the way to fit me for it, Is beyond my savour. As the reason then is thine; So the way is none of mine: I disclaim the whole designe: Sinne disclaims and I resigne.
That is all, if that I could Get without repining; And my clay my creature would Follow my resigning. That as I did freely part With my glorie and desert, Left all joyes to feel all smart——— Ah! no more: thou break'st my heart.
Scripture echoes
- ↩Gen.2.7;Job.10.9;Isa.64.8 — Then the LORD God formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being. Job.10.9 — Remember, I pray, that You made me like clay—and will You turn me back to dust? Isa.64.8 — But now, O LORD, you are our Father. We are the clay, and you are the potter; we are all the work of your hand.
- ↩Phil.2.6-Phil.2.8 — who, existing in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to exploit, Phil.2.7 — but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness, and appearing as a human being. Phil.2.8 — And he humbled himself, becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.
- ↩Ps.34.18 — They cried out, and the LORD heard, and from all their troubles he delivered them.
Notes
- 1 ↩Source 'waving' is early-modern for wavering—hesitation or faltering in devotion—not literal waving.
- 2 ↩Source 'pains' means pains taken—effort and trouble—not primarily bodily pain; rendered as 'labor'.
- 3 ↩Source 'ballance' / 'poise and measure' is the weighing-scales metaphor: the pans, the counterweight, and the standard of measurement—not moral 'balance' in the abstract.
- 4 ↩'Finger not' means do not touch or meddle with—unauthorized handling of what Christ claims as his own.
- 5 ↩Christ (the speaker) alone can appraise the soul's worth; 'sold for man' and the transferred accounts keep the redemption-as-ledger metaphor: he takes the soul's debt onto his own books.
- 6 ↩Early modern 'savour' here means capacity of sense/understanding (not culinary taste); rendered as 'understanding'.
- 7 ↩'Sinne disclaims and I resigne' pairs sin's renunciation of claim with the speaker's surrender; 'disclaim' kept as renunciation of title/claim, 'resigne' as self-surrender rather than mere quitting.
- 8 ↩Christ/Love answers: the only request is the soul's free resignation without murmuring, and that the creature should follow Christ's own self-surrender. 'Clay' names the human creature as formed dust; 'resigning' continues the poem's keyword of yielding claim.
- 9 ↩'Desert' here is merit/claim (what was due), not a wasteland; 'smart' is sharp suffering. Rendered as 'what I deserved' and 'pain' for modern clarity while keeping the free self-emptying sense.
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