Supposed Address To Bishop Ken

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Title:     Supposed Address To Bishop Ken
Author: William Lisle Bowles [More Titles by Bowles]

Supposed Address to Bishop Ken.[1]

Though his words might well deceive me,
Though to earth abased I bend,
Christian guide, thou wilt not leave me,
Thus on earth without a friend!

I thought his vows were oaths in heaven,
Nor dare I here my fault deny;
For all my soul to him was given,
God knows how true, how tenderly!

Though wronged and desolate and dying,
His pride, his coldness, I forgot,
And fell upon his bosom, crying,
Forsake me not--forsake me not!

I left my father, and my mother,
Whom I no more on earth may see,
But I have found a father, brother,
And more than every friend, in thee!

Although his words might well deceive me,
Though wronged, and desolate I lie,
Christian guide, thou wilt not leave me,
Oh, teach me to repent and die!

[Footnote 1: Supposed to have been addressed to Bishop Ken, by Princess Mary of Orange, before her marriage with William III., who, but for the interposition of the Bishop, would have broken his engagement to marry her.]

[The end]
William Lisle Bowles's poem: Supposed Address To Bishop Ken

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