ALTAR

A Broken A L T AR, Lord thy servant rears,
Made of heart, and cemented with tears:
Whose parts are as thy hand did frame;
No workman’s tool hath touched the same.

A heart alone
Is such a stone
As nothing but
Thy power doth cut
Wherefore each part
Of my hard heart
Meets in this frame
To praise thy name

That if I chance to hold my peace
These stones to praise thee may not cease.
Oh let thy blessed sacrifice be mine,
And sanctify this A L T A R to be thine.

The Temple-George Herbert