Bidding Adieu to Earthly Pleasures

Ye gay deceivers of the mind

Author: Anne Steele (1760)
Published in 1 hymnal

Representative Text

I. Ye gay deceivers of the mind,
Ye dreams of happiness, adieu;
No more your soft enchantments bind,
This heart was never made for you.

II. The brightest joy your smile can boast,
Is but a moment's glitt'ring light;
It sparkles now, and now 'tis lost,
Extinguish'd in the shades of night.

III. Begone, with all your soothing charms;
Pleasure on earth!—O empty name!
Superior joy my bosom warms,
And heav'n approves the sacred flame.

IV. To perfect bliss my soul aspires,
That shines with never-fading ray;
No less can satiate my desires,
Than full delight, and endless day.

V. Blest be the kind, the gracious pow'r,
That gently call'd and bade me rise;
And taught my nobler thoughts to soar
To happiness beyond the skies.

Source: Poems on Subjects Chiefly Devotional, Vol. 1 #103

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Author: Anne Steele

Anne Steele was the daughter of Particular Baptist preacher and timber merchant William Steele. She spent her entire life in Broughton, Hampshire, near the southern coast of England, and devoted much of her time to writing. Some accounts of her life portray her as a lonely, melancholy invalid, but a revival of research in the last decade indicates that she had been more active and social than what was previously thought. She was theologically conversant with Dissenting ministers and "found herself at the centre of a literary circle that included family members from various generations, as well as local literati." She chose a life of singleness to focus on her craft. Before Christmas in 1742, she declined a marriage proposal from contemporar… Go to person page >

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Text Information

Text Information

First Line:	Ye gay deceivers of the mind
Title:	Bidding Adieu to Earthly Pleasures
Author:	Anne Steele (1760)
Language:	English
Publication Date:	1760
Copyright:	This text is in the public domain in the United States because it was published before 1929.