Teach me, my God and King,
In all things Thee to see,
And what I do in anything
To do it as for Thee.
Not rudely, as a beast,
To run into an action;
But still to make Thee prepossest,
And give it his perfection.
A man that looks on glass,
On it may stay his eye;
Or it he pleaseth, through it pass,
And then the heav'n espy.
All may of Thee partake:
Nothing can be so mean,
Which with his tincture-”for Thy sake”-
Will not grow bright and clean.
A servant with this clause
Makes drudgery divine:
Who sweeps a room as for Thy laws,
Makes that and th' action fine.
This is the famous stone
That turneth all to gold;
For that which God doth touch and own
Cannot for less be told.
The Elixir
George Herbert
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Poem topics: beast, king, perfection, room, stay, bright, clean, touch, sake, gold, divine, teach, stone, Santa Clause, glass, god, action, Print This Poem , Rhyme Scheme
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Thomas Copeland: There is a misprint: "Or it he pleaseth, through it pass," should read, "Or if he pleaseth, through it pass,"
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