Send the Joys of Earth Away

Verse 1

Send the joys of earth away,
Away ye tempters of the mind,
False as the smooth deceitful sea,
And empty as the whistling wind.

Verse 2

Your streams were floating me along
Down to the gulf of black despair,
And whilst I listen’d to your song,
Your streams had e’en convey’d me there.

Verse 3

Lord, I adore thy matchless grace,
That warn’d me of that dark abyss,
That drew me from those treacherous seas,
And bid me seek superior bliss.

Verse 4

Now to the shining realms above
I stretch my hands, and glance mine eyes;
O for the pinions of a dove
To bear me to the upper skies.

Verse 5

There from the bosom of my God
Oceans of endless pleasure roll;
There would I fix my last abode,
And drown the sorrows of my soul.