1624–1665

Introduction

Born: 1624, Es­sex, Eng­land.

Died: 1665, Lon­don, Eng­land, dur­ing the plague.

portrait

Biography

John was the son of hym­nist Fran­cis Quarles.

He was edu­cat­ed un­der the care of Arch­bi­shop James Us­sher, and ma­tri­cu­lat­ed at Exe­ter Col­lege, Ox­ford, in Feb­ru­ary 1643, but does not seem to have tak­en a de­gree.

Quarles bore arms for the king in the gar­ri­son at Ox­ford, and was im­pri­soned and ban­ished, ap­par­ent­ly due to his ad­her­ence to the roy­al cause. While in ban­ish­ment in Flan­ders, he wrote the po­ems con­tained in his first pub­lished vol­ume, Fons La­chry­mar­um.

He was in Eng­land in 1648, but oc­casions be­yond the sea com­pelled him to leave the next year.

The date of Quarles’ ul­ti­mate re­turn to En­gland is un­known, but he lived in po­ver­ty at the end of his life, earn­ing a liv­ing by wri­ting.

Works

Sources

Lyrics

  1. Accept, O God, My Ho­ly Fires
  2. Be Gra­cious, Lord, un­to My Grief
  3. Be Thou, My Trust, My God
  4. Behold My Right, and Right My Wrong
  5. Direct My Steps, Lord, Be My Way
  6. Direct, O God, the Judge’s Breast
  7. Eternal God, Be­fore Whose Eyes
  8. Eternal Mak­er, Grant That We
  9. For Zi­on’s Sake I Will Not Rest
  10. Fountain of Know­ledge, Liv­ing Breath
  11. Fountain of Light and Liv­ing Breath
  12. Give Me the Heart, O God to Trust
  13. Glorious Cre­at­or, Once More Thine
  14. Good God, Thy Mer­cy and Thy Might
  15. Good God, Where Ere I Cast Mine Eyes
  16. Great God, My Strength, at Whose Com­mand
  17. Great God of Gods, Great King of Kings
  18. Great God of Won­ders, That Dost Ope
  19. Great God, the Work of Whose High Hands
  20. Great God, Thy Gar­den Is De­faced
  21. Great God to Whom All Praise Be­longs
  22. Great God, Whom Fools De­ny
  23. Great God, Whose Ev­er Wake­ful Eye
  24. Great God, Whose Good­ness Doth Re­pleate
  25. Great God Whose King­dom Hath No End
  26. Great God Whose Pro­mise Is to Hear
  27. Great God, Whose Scep­ter Rules the Earth
  28. Great King of Glo­ry, Who Are Dressed
  29. Great King of Peace, Be Pleased to Send
  30. Great Lord of Wonders
  31. Great Mon­arch of the World
  32. Great Prince of Peace
  33. Great Shep­herd of My Soul
  34. Great Son of the Eter­nal God
  35. Great Spring, from Whence All Mer­cy Flows
  36. Hearer of Pray­ers, Con­found My Foes
  37. Hearer of Pray­ers, to Whom Should I
  38. Highest of High­est, That Dost Raise
  39. If It Be So, That We Must Fight
  40. In All Ex­tremes, Lord, Thou Art Still
  41. Judge Not My Act­ions by Thy Laws
  42. Just God of Ven­geance, Cast an Eye
  43. Just Judge of Earth, in Whom We Trust
  44. Kindle, O Lord, My Love with Zeal
  45. Let Ev­ery Won­der That I See
  46. Let My Con­fess­ion Lanch My Sore
  47. Let Oth­ers Boast in Gold
  48. Let Shame Be Their Due Re­com­pense
  49. Light Thou the Lamps, Great God
  50. Long Did I Toil
  51. Lord, Cast Thine Eyes up­on Thy Foes
  52. Lord, Cleanse My Heart, and Guide My Tongue
  53. Lord, Crush My Li­on Heart­ed Foes
  54. Lord, Curb My Tongue, and Make Me See
  55. Lord, Every Crea­ture Writes a Sto­ry
  56. Lord, Give Me a Be­liev­ing Heart
  57. Lord God, from Whom All Mer­cy Springs
  58. Lord God of Gods, Be­fore Whose Throne
  59. Lord, Guide My Foot­steps in Thy Truth
  60. Lord, Hear My Trou­bled Voice, and Bring
  61. Lord, Help Me When My Griefs Do Call
  62. Lord, Hide Me from My Bloody Foes
  63. Lord, How I Long to See Thy Face
  64. Lord, If Mine Eyes Should Look Too High
  65. Lord, If My Tongue and Bu­sy Quill
  66. Lord, If Our Ene­mies In­crease
  67. Lord, If Thou Take Away Thy Hand
  68. Lord, If Thy Flame Must Needs Be Felt
  69. Lord, If Thy Mer­cies Purge My Heart
  70. Lord, If Thy Plea­sure Make Me Poor
  71. Lord, in Thy Wrath Cor­rect Me Not
  72. Lord, Keep Me from My Self
  73. Lord, Keep Me from Those Hearts and Tongues
  74. Lord, Keep Me Just and Judge My Right
  75. Lord, Leave Us Not Too Long a Space
  76. Lord, Let Mine Eyes Not Sleep
  77. Lord, Let Our Je­sus, and Thy Christ
  78. Lord, Let the Ev­en­ing of My Grief
  79. Lord, Let the Fire of My True Zeal
  80. Lord, Let the Morn­ing of My Grief
  81. Lord, Let the Praises of Thy Pow­er
  82. Lord, Let the Sun­shine of Thy Face
  83. Lord, Let Thy Fa­vor Still In­flame
  84. Lord, Let Thy Fu­ry Cease to Burn
  85. Lord, Let Thy Judg­ments Fill All Those
  86. Lord, Let Thy Name Se­cure and Free
  87. Lord, Let Thy Sacr­ed Fire Thaw
  88. Lord, Let Thy Won­ders, and Thy Ways
  89. Lord, Make the Tor­ments We En­dure
  90. Lord, Our Fa­thers Found Re­dress
  91. Lord, Plant My Fear Be­fore My Eyes
  92. Lord, Plant My Fears With­in My Breast
  93. Lord, Plead My Cause, and Right My Wrong
  94. Lord, Purge My Heart, and Cleanse My Hand
  95. Lord, Purge My Soul, That I May Learn
  96. Lord, Right My Wrongs, and Plead My Right
  97. Lord, Rise in Pow­er With­in My Heart
  98. Lord, Save Me from My Foes
  99. Lord, Sea­son My Un­sa­vo­ry Spirit
  100. Lord, Shouldst Thou Pun­ish Ev­ery Sin
  101. Lord, Since There Must Be Al­ways Foes
  102. Lord, Teach Me to Re­nown Thy Name
  103. Lord, Teach Me Wise­ly to Con­temn
  104. Lord, Teach My Heart to Walk Up­right
  105. Lord, Teach My Hum­ble Eyes the Art
  106. Lord, Teach My Reins
  107. Lord, Teach Our Loy­al Hearts to Build
  108. Lord, Teach Us Time­ly How to Pray
  109. Lord, Thou That Hoardst Thy Grace for Those
  110. Lord, Thou That Madst Me, and Dost Pry
  111. Lord, Thou That Un­der­neath Thy Wing
  112. Lord, Thou Whose Equal Hand Al­lays
  113. Lord, Thou Whose Mer­cies Do Ex­ceed
  114. Lord, Thou Whose Mer­cies Fail Not Those
  115. Lord, Though We Feel the Bit­ter Taste
  116. Lord, We Are Cap­tives, and We Bow
  117. Lord, We Are Se­ver­al Mem­bers Joined
  118. Lord, When My Grief Shall Find a Tongue
  119. My God, Full Tears Are All the Di­et
  120. My God, Thy Mer­cies So Abound
  121. My God, Whose Fear Drives Fear Away
  122. My Je­sus, Thou That Wert No Less
  123. O God, Be Thou My Liv­ing Rock
  124. O God, How Poor a Thing Is Man
  125. O God, Re­mit Thy Peo­ples’ Sin
  126. O God, the Mal­ice of My Foes
  127. O God, the Mount­ains and the Seas
  128. O God, to Whom Thy Thoughts Di­rect
  129. O God, Whose Dread­ful Voice Like Thun­der
  130. O God, Whose Judg­ments Are Se­vere
  131. O King of Kings, Be­fore Whose Throne
  132. O Lord My Judg­ment’s Dark, and Blind
  133. O Thou Who Sitt’st in Heaven and Seest
  134. O Lord Whose Mer­cies, and Whose Paths
  135. O Thou Whose Mer­cy Did Be­gin
  136. O Thou, With­in Whose Ten­der Breast
  137. Shall Frost and Snow Give Praise to Thee
  138. Shall Mount­ain, De­sert, Beast, and Tree
  139. Surpassing Lord, Whose Mer­cies Have Sur­past
  140. Thou Gra­cious Hear­er of Re­quests
  141. Thou Right­eous Hear­er of Re­quests
  142. Though Thou­sands Here, Ten Thou­sands There
  143. To That Sweet Lamb, Which Did Sus­tain
  144. What I Pos­sess, or What I Crave
  145. What Is There, Lord, What Is in Me?
  146. When Je­sus Comes to Earth
  147. When Win­ter For­tunes Cloud the Brows
  148. Zion, the Glo­ry of All the Earth

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