sometimes misattributed to Emily Dickinson (1830 - 1886) and by George Herbert (1593 - 1633)
I Cannot ope mine eyes
Language: English
I Cannot ope mine eyes, But thou art ready there to catch My morning-soul and sacrifice: Then we must needs for that day make a match. My God, what is a heart? Silver, or gold, or precious stone, Or starre, or rainbow, or a part Of all these things, or all of them in one? My God, what is a heart? That thou shouldst it so eye, and wooe, Powring upon it all thy art, As if that thou hadst nothing els to do? Indeed mans whole estate Amounts (and richly) to serve thee: He did not heav'n and earth create, Yet studies them, not him by whom they be. Teach me thy love to know; That this new light, which now I see, May both the work and workman show: Then by a sunne-beam I will climbe to thee.
About the headline (FAQ)
Note: this is sometimes misattributed to Emily Dickinson, who copied the second and third stanzas into one of her notebooks. The lines were mistakenly thought to be her work and published under her name.Authorship:
- sometimes misattributed to Emily Dickinson (1830 - 1886)
- by George Herbert (1593 - 1633), "Mattens", appears in The Temple, first published 1633 [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
- by Sergius Kagen (1909 - 1964), "My God, what is a heart?", published 1956 [voice and clarinet or chamber orchestra], from The Mob Within the Heart [text not verified]
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2008-09-23
Line count: 20
Word count: 140