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John Byrom (1692 – 1763)


English poet.
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John Byrom
Were I a king (God bless me) I should hate
My chaplains meddling with affairs of state;
Nor would my subjects, I should think, be fond,
Whenever theirs the Bible went beyond.
Byrom quotes
Some say, that Signor Bononcini,
Compared to Handel's a mere ninny;
Others aver, to him, that Handel
Is scarcely fit to hold a candle.
Strange! that such high dispute should be
'Twixt Tweedledum and Tweedledee.
Byrom
Sir, you must be all caution and no fear, and you'll find true what our old friend Archimedes said some while ago.




Byrom John quotes
The Church is indeed, in its real Intent,
An Assembly where Nothing but Friendship is meant;
And the utter Extinction of Foeship and Wrath
By the Working of Love in the Strength of its Faith.
This gives it its holy and catholic Name,
And truly confirms its apostolic Claim;
Showing what the One Saviour's One Mission had been:
"Go and teach all the World," — ev'ry Creature therein.
Byrom John
Here, all ye learned, full of all Dispute,
Of true and false Religion lies the Root.
The Mind of Christ, when He became a Man,
With all Its Tempers, forms its real Plan,
The Sheep from Goats distinguishing full well; —
His Love is Heav'n, and Want of It is Hell.
John Byrom quotes
Thus adorned, the two heroes, 'twixt shoulder and elbow,
Shook hands and went to 't; and the word it was bilbow.
John Byrom
The point is plain as a pike-staff.
Byrom John quotes
Religion's Meaning when I would recall,
Love is to me the plainest Word of all.
Plainest, — because that what I love, or hate,
Shews me directly my internal State;
By its own Consciousness is best defin'd
Which way the Heart within me stands inclin'd.
Byrom
The One Unbounded, Undivided Good,
By all His Creatures partly understood.
If therefore Sense of its apparent Parts
Raise not His Love or Worship in our Hearts,
Our selfish Wills or Notions we may feast,
And have no more Religion than a Beast.
Byrom John
Of true Religion Works of Mercy seem
To be the plainest Proof in Christ's Esteem;
Who has Himself declar'd what He will say
To all the Nations at the Judgment Day:
"Come," or "Depart," is the predicted Lot
Of brotherly Compassion shown, or not.
John Byrom
Th' Eternal Mind, ev'n Heathens understood,
Was Infinitely Powerful, Wise, and Good.
In their Conceptions, who conceiv'd aright,
These Three Essential Attributes unite.
They saw that, wanting any of the Three,
Such an All-perfect Being could not be.




John Byrom quotes
"The Sabbath was made for Man; not Man for the Sabbath."
John Byrom
As clear as a whistle.
Byrom quotes
Take time enough: all other graces
Will soon fill up their proper places.
Byrom John
Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 10th ed. (1919). Bartlett's further reports Byrom having said "Nourse asked me if I had seen the verses upon Handel and Bononcini, not knowing that they were mine", Byrom's Remains (Chetham Soc.), vol. i. p. 173; and states: "The last two lines have also been attributed to Swift and Pope (see Scott's edition of Swift, and Dyce's edition of Pope)".
Byrom John quotes
Of all Religions if we take a View,
There is but one that ever can be true, —
One God, One Christ, One Spirit, none but He.
All else is Idol, whatsoe'er it be,—
A Good that our Imaginations make,
Unless we love it purely for His Sake.
John Byrom
From the Divine, Eternal Spirit springs
Order and Rule and Rectitude of Things,
Thro' outward Nature, His Apparent Throne,
Visibly seen, intelligibly known, —
Proofs of a Boundless Pow'r, a Wisdom's Aid,
By Goodness us'd, Eternal and Unmade.
John Byrom quotes
Endless Perfections after all conspire,
And to adore excite and to admire;
But to plain Minds the Plainest Pow'r Above
Is Native Goodness to attract our Love;
Centre of all Its various Pow'r and Skill
Is One Divine, Immutable Good Will.
John Byrom
God bless the King! (I mean our faith's defender!)
God bless! (No harm in blessing) the Pretender.
But who Pretender is, and who is King,
God bless us all! That's quite another thing!
Byrom John
My spirit longs for Thee,
Within my troubled breast,
Though I unworthy be
Of so divine a Guest.
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