His writings are nonetheless full of passion and love for lost sinners, coupled with a desire to see the summer of Christ’s second advent dawn. This is especially true of his Welsh prose which is profoundly moving on occasions; testifying to the beauty and grandeur of the Welsh language. Some of his English hymns and poems are deeply political and reflect the drama of the Puritan revolution. Many give expression to his belief in the imminent return and reign of Christ upon the earth for a thousand years as described in Revelation 20.
In the mix of eschatology and politics, there are occasionally hymns and poems of devotional beauty and eloquence – especially those focusing on the person and work of Christ. I have selected some examples and verses below:
I
Blessed be
Christ our Great High Priest
Who for our
lives did plead;
Stood in
the gap, turned off great wrath
And lives
to intercede.
Yet who can
give Him as he ought
All His
deserved praise
Or
comprehend His glorious love
His wise
and wondrous ways.
Grant us
our Lord to live in love
And truth
and void of blame
Oh, make us
such as we should be
A people
for Thy name.
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II
O glorious
Lamb, Thou King of saints
We praise
and worship Thee
That gave
us leave to live in spring
Lord, let
us summer see.
|
III
Hosanna
cry, King Jesus comes, He’ll
Summer with
him bring
A meek,
just, strong, fair, lasting Prince
Again
Hosanna sing.
Your hearts
spread freely in His way, make
Heaven and
earth to ring
With
acclamations and clap hands to welcome
Christ the
King.
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IV
When soul
and body and all fail
Christ
Jesus is the same
To Him I
look, in Him I trust
That I
shall spread his fame.
When men do
rage, my Christ doth reign
And conquers
mightily
When devils
do roar and conscience too
To Christ by
faith I fly.
Lord I
desire to be dissolved
And from my
self be free
For in the
womb of this dark world
I have been
long from Thee.
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V
Flesh,
world, and Satan join and meet
To kill my
heart with strife
O Father,
Son, and Spirit sweet,
Agree to
save my life.
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VI
We have
great cause to praise our Lord,
The
fountain of our wealth,
O let us
sing with one accord,
To Christ
our life and health.
For He is
clothed with His might,
With righteousness
and zeal.
He will
repay to all their right
And peace
with truth reveal.
Let all the
nations praise His name,
Let
kingdoms to Him bow.
Let all
admire His love and fame
And pay
what they do vow.
He is the
Prince of all the Kings
The Judge
of all mankind,
His saints
His jewels are and rings,
Large is
His love and mind.
He dwelleth
in a wondrous light
Through all
eternity
All things
are naked in His sight
All spirits
He doth try.
And in His
arms, He doth us bear
Our sins He
doth forgive
Teach us, O
Lord, Thy Name to fear
Our inward
man relieve.
Now glorious
Lord and Saviour sweet
Thyself
make known to men
O lift us
up with Thine own self
Say Thou
from heaven, ‘Amen’.
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Sources
The English hymns and poems of Morgan Llwyd may be found in Thomas E. Ellis (ed.), Gweithiau Morgan Llwyd o Wynedd, cyf. I (1899). NB. Spelling and capitalisation have been modernised in the extracts above.
See also M. Wynn Thomas, ‘Seventeenth–Century Puritan Writers: Morgan Llwyd and Charles Edwards’, in R. Geraint Gruffydd (ed.), A Guide to Welsh Literature c. 1530–1700 (Cardiff, 1997), pp. 190–209; R. Tudur Jones, ‘The Healing Herb and Rose of Love: The Piety of Two Welsh Puritans’, in R. Buick Knox (ed.), Reformation, Conformity and Dissent (London, 1977), pp. 154–179.
The English hymns and poems of Morgan Llwyd may be found in Thomas E. Ellis (ed.), Gweithiau Morgan Llwyd o Wynedd, cyf. I (1899). NB. Spelling and capitalisation have been modernised in the extracts above.
See also M. Wynn Thomas, ‘Seventeenth–Century Puritan Writers: Morgan Llwyd and Charles Edwards’, in R. Geraint Gruffydd (ed.), A Guide to Welsh Literature c. 1530–1700 (Cardiff, 1997), pp. 190–209; R. Tudur Jones, ‘The Healing Herb and Rose of Love: The Piety of Two Welsh Puritans’, in R. Buick Knox (ed.), Reformation, Conformity and Dissent (London, 1977), pp. 154–179.