quote · Legacy record
Ye Sacred Writings! in whose antique leaves, The wondrous deeds of heaven recorded lie, Say what might be the cause, that mercy heaves The dust of sin above the starry sky, And lets it not to dust and ashes fly? Could Justice be of sin so over-woo’d, Or so great ill be cause of so great good, That, bloody man to save, man’s Saviour shed his blood. Here, when the ruin of that beauteous frame, Whose golden building shin’d with every star Of excellence, deform’d with sin became; Mercy rememb’ring peace in midst of war, Lift up the music of her voice to bar Eternal fate, lest it should quite erase That from the world, which was the first world’s grace. And all again into their nothing—chaos—chase.
Ye Sacred Writings! in whose antique leaves, The wondrous deeds of heaven recorded lie, Say what might be the cause, that mercy heaves The dust of sin above the starry sky, And lets it not to dust and ashes fly? Could Justice be of sin so over-woo’d, Or so great ill be cause of so great good, That, bloody man to save, man’s Saviour shed his blood. Here, when the ruin of that beauteous frame, Whose golden building shin’d with every star Of excellence, deform’d with sin became; Mercy rememb’ring peace in midst of war, Lift up the music of her voice to bar Eternal fate, lest it should quite erase That from the world, which was the first world’s grace. And all again into their nothing—chaos—chase.
In print by 1888 AD · industrial
Recorded in a printed collection by this date; the original date of these words is still unknown.
Meaning not yet available
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Begin with source-checked readings and explanations ↗Attribution & collection notes
- Author or tradition
- Giles Fletcher (identity unresolved)
Attribution: unknown - Country attributed
- Not established
A country attribution does not establish the earliest origin. - Historical period
- In print by 1888 AD · industrial
In print by 1888: recorded in A Cyclopædia of Sacred Poetical Quotations (catalogued1888). Collection publication is an upper bound for this wording, not its earliest origin, composition date or the author's lifetime.
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 382 · printed citation: Giles Fletcher · subject: MERCY
A collection's publication date can be later than the words it records.