quote · Legacy record
O thou unknown, Almighty cause Of all my hope and fear! In whose dread presence, ere an hour, Perhaps I must appear! If I have wandered in those paths Of life I ought to shun, As something, loudly, in my breast, Remonstrates I have done; Thou know’st that Thou hast formed me With passions wild and strong; And list’ning to their witching voice Has often led me wrong. Where human weakness has come short, Or frailty stept aside, Do Thou, All-Good! for such thou art, In shades of darkness hide. Where with intention I have err’d, No other plea I have, But Thou art good; and Goodness still Delighteth to forgive.
O thou unknown, Almighty cause Of all my hope and fear! In whose dread presence, ere an hour, Perhaps I must appear! If I have wandered in those paths Of life I ought to shun, As something, loudly, in my breast, Remonstrates I have done; Thou know’st that Thou hast formed me With passions wild and strong; And list’ning to their witching voice Has often led me wrong. Where human weakness has come short, Or frailty stept aside, Do Thou, All-Good! for such thou art, In shades of darkness hide. Where with intention I have err’d, No other plea I have, But Thou art good; and Goodness still Delighteth to forgive.
Approximate author period: c. 1777 AD · early modern
Meaning not yet available
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Begin with source-checked readings and explanations ↗Attribution & collection notes
- Author or tradition
- Robert Burns
Attribution: attributed - Country attributed
- Not established
A country attribution does not establish the earliest origin. - Historical period
- Approximate author period: c. 1777 AD · early modern
author lifetime midpoint (1759–1796)
An author lifetime, approximate period or collection date is not necessarily the date when these words were first written or spoken. - Recorded source
- A Cyclopædia of Sacred Poetical Quotations (catalogued1888) (1888 AD)
Page 233 · printed citation: Burns · subject: FORGIVENESS
A collection's publication date can be later than the words it records.