John & Charles Wesley · 15 of 258

Farewell to the World

From the French.

World, adieu, thou real cheat! Oft have thy deceitful charms Fill’d my heart with fond conceit, Foolish hopes, and false alarms: Now I see as clear as day How thy follies pass away.

Vain thy entertaining sights, False thy promises renew’d, All the pomp of thy delights Does but flatter and delude: Thee I quit for Heaven above, Object of the noblest love.

Farewell Honour’s empty pride! Thy own nice, uncertain gust, If the least mischance betide, Lays thee lower than the dust: Worldly honours end in gall, Rise to-day, to-morrow fall.

Foolish Vanity, farewell, More inconstant than the wave! Where thy soothing fancies dwell, Purest tempers they deprave: He, to whom I fly, from thee, Jesus Christ, shall set me free,

Never shall my wandering mind Follow after fleeting toys, Since in God alone I find Solid and substantial joys; Joys that, never overpast, Through eternity shall last.

Lord, how happy is a heart After Thee while it aspires! True and faithful as Thou art, Thou shalt answer its desires: It shall see the glorious scene Of Thy everlasting reign.