Sixth & Seventh Stanzas

How spiritual? Holy shall I shine when I

Thy Crown of Righteousness wear on my head?

How glorious when does thou dost me glorify

To wear thy Crown of Glory polished?

How shall I when thy Crown of Life I wear                           35

In lively colors flowerish, fresh, and fair.

When thou shalt crown me with these crowns, I’ll bend

My shallow crown to crown with songs thy name.

Angels shall set the tune; I’ll it attend:

Thy glory’st be the burden of the same.                                            40

Till then I cannot sing, my tongue is tied.

Accept this lisp till I am glorified.

Notes

The poem ends with meditation and expectation as to coming to glory:

²⁸ And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. ²⁹ For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. ³⁰ And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.

Romans 8:28–30 (ESV)

The Crowns are emblems of the various graces of heaven: life, glory, righteousness. The previous stanza ends with the prayer that he may receive the crown of life, that it eternal life, and in so receiving it, sin will.  As an aside, it is interesting that fear of sin is linked to the slavery to sin; and so also the hope of life is linked to the cessation of sin:

¹⁴ Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, ¹⁵ and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery.

Hebrews 2:14–15 (ESV)

Notice also that holiness is linked to radiance, or being glory:

                                    Holy shall I shine when I

Thy Crown of Righteousness wear on my head?

How glorious when does thou dost me glorify

In contemporary idiom, holiness is linked with a narrowness, an aversion to life and happiness, the stringent “church lady” of the skit. But Taylor conceptualizes holiness as a fundamentally different thing: It is not narrow and cold, but “glorious” to be righteous.

But notice that this state of being “spiritual” is not senseless. He describes this with physical terms of a Spring:

How shall I when thy Crown of Life I wear                           35

In lively colors flowerish, fresh, and fair.

This last line has a fine alliteration on “f”.

The reference to “flowerish” may be an allusion to 1 Peter 1:4, quoted above. The word for “unfading” ἀμάραντος (amarantos) means a never-fading flower:

ἀμάραντος [α^μα^], ον, （μαραίνω) 

A.unfading, “λειμών”  Luc.Dom.9: metaph., “σοφία”  LXX Wi.6.12; “κληρονομία”  1 Ep.Pet.1.4, cf. CIG2942c(Tralles); πνεῦμα prob. in IPE2.286 (Panticapaeum): neut. pl. as Adv., Philostr.Im.1.9. 

II. Subst. ἀμάραντον, τό (but in Lat. amarantus), never-fading flower, IG14.607e (Carales), Poll.1.229; = ἑλίχρυσον, Dsc.4.57; = κενταύρειον μικρόν, Ps.-Dsc.3.7; = χρυσοκόμη. Id.4.55.

LSJ.

(Amaranthus, courtesy of Candiru)

More on line 35:

How shall I when thy Crown of Life I wear

There is an ellipsis of “shine” taken from line 31, “Holy shall I shine”.  In line 25 the main verb is missing form “How shall I ____” Thus, “how shall I shine.” The ellipsis is necessary to limit the line to 10 syllables.

Lines 37-38 have a clever bit of punning on “crown”

When thou shalt crown me with these crowns, I’ll bend

My shallow crown to crown with songs thy name.

When you place [crow] upon my head these “crowns”, I’ll bend my head [crown] in a bow to you, and I will praise [crown] your name with song.  

This worship of song will include the angels:

Angels shall set the tune; I’ll it attend:

Thy glory’st be the burden of the same

The burden here cannot be mean a negative weight. Therefore, he must mean the word in a neutral sense, “a great weight”. There is a pun in that: the Hebrew word for “glory” means at base “heavy”, and thus reputation and wealth:

  A. non-theological.

  —1. heaviness, burden Is 22:24 Nah 2:10 (? anticipatory לִכְדוּ לָכֶם, alt. cj. כְּבֵדִים).

  —2. a) riches Gn 31:1 (עשׂה to gain) Is 10:3 61:6 66:12; b) reputation, importance Gn 45:13 Qoh 10:1 (Herzberg 183; alt. honour)

Koehler, Ludwig, et al. The Hebrew and Aramaic Lexicon of the Old Testament, Electronic ed., E.J. Brill, 1994–2000, p. 457. And so “glory” is a burden because it is weighty (“gravitas” is an analogical usage)

As is common throughout these poems, the poem ends with a self-reference. Here, Taylor says his poem is not enough to be a “song”: he is unable to sign. He refers to his poem as a “lisp”, which would be the way a child speaks.  His “tongue is tied”:

Till then I cannot sing, my tongue is tied.

Accept this lisp till I am glorified.

There is possibly an allusion here to Calvin’s reference that God must lisp to us, speak to us like children, because we cannot understand better:

For who even of slight intelligence does not understand that, as nurses commonly do with infants, God is wont in a measure to “lisp” in speaking to us? Thus such forms of speaking do not so much express clearly what God is like as accommodate the knowledge of him to our slight capacity. To do this he must descend far beneath his loftiness. Calvin, John. Institutes of the Christian Religion & 2. Edited by John T. McNeill, Translated by Ford Lewis Battles, vol. 1, Westminster John Knox

Fifth Stanza

A crown of life, of glory, of righteousness,                                 25

Thou wilt adorn with that will not fade.

Shall faith in me shrink up for feebleness?

Nor take my sins by the crown, till crownless made?

Breathe, Lord, thy Spirit on my Faith, that I

May have thy crown of life, and sin may die.                           30

Notes:

A crown of life, of glory, of righteousness,

Thou wilt adorn with that will not fade.

These lines make rapid allusions to various NT texts:

A crown of life comes from James 1:12, quoted above.

1 Peter 5:4 (ESV)

⁴ And when the chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory.

1 Peter 1:3–7 (ESV)

³ Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, ⁴ to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, ⁵ who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. ⁶ In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, ⁷ so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

2 Timothy 4:8 (ESV)

⁸ Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that day, and not only to me but also to all who have loved his appearing.

Taylor is right to take this as a collective crown; the image should not be of one wearing multiple crowns stacked one upon another.  By “crown” the idea is that one is adorned in this way. Each element is responsive to an effect of sin and the fall.

A crown of life answers to death, which is the wage for sin (Rom. 6:23)

A crown of glory answers to the shame of sin.

A crown of righteousness answer to the guilt of sin.

All things in creation are subjected to futility (Rom. 8:20). The rewards of God will be unfading.

Notice that the crowns are not given for merit, but are given because the one who receives these crowns lacks this honor.  However, these crowns are granted upon a condition: not of merit but of faith. Refer back to 1 Peter 1:3-7.

Hence the next line of Taylor’s poem:

Shall faith in me shrink up for feebleness?

These crowns are conditional upon the existence of faith to receive them. These crowns are available to all on the condition of faith, but will my faith fail? Is my faith so feeble (as evidenced by my persistent sin) that it will be unable to lay hold upon these crowns which I so desperately need?

Here we have a pun upon the word “crown”: The top of the head, and the adornment of a king:

Nor take my sins by the crown, till crownless made?

Will I not take my sins by their head, to dispose of them, until I have lost the crown of life/glory/righteousness?  Or by crownless, does he mean he will be deposed? Dead, lost his head? Will never finally deal with sin until it comes to past that I have lost all?

Breathe, Lord, thy Spirit on my Faith, that I

May have thy crown of life, and sin may die.

I made an emendation here. I have two published versions of Taylor’s poems, and both record the first word of the 29^th line as “breath”. But Taylor is unquestionably alluding to the act of Jesus after his resurrection as recorded in John:

John 20:21–22 (ESV)

²¹ Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you.” ²² And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit.

In himself, Taylor sees only the fear that his own faith will fail. And thus he prays that Jesus will breathe upon him and grant him the faith so that he may obtain the crown. Thus, the condition for the gift and the gift itself are both from the Lord.

Again, the crown is not a reward for a sinless life. Rather, the crown is given as victory over the sin:  By gaining the crown he will live.

Third Stanza

Pardon and poison them, Lord, with thy blood

Cast their cursed carcasses out of my heart.

My heart fill with thy love, let grace it dub.                                                                  15

Make this my silver studs with thy rich art.

My soul shall then be thy sweet paradise

Thou’st be its rose, and it thy bed of spice.

Notes:

If the Lord should cleanse his heart, his would be a fit place for the Lord.

He again uses the initial accent to drive home the point. This use of the accent makes the plea more intensive. He furthers that intensity with alliteration on the accented syllables:

PARdon and POIison them, Lord, with thy blood

CAST their CURSED CARcasses out of my heart.

The paired “pardon and poison” is an interesting phrase because both words are appropriate to the prayer: He is asking the Lord to (1) forgive him for harboring sin, and (2) destroy the sin in his heart. Thus, pardon and poison are both appropriate. But, this is the only time I have ever seen these two words paired. A check of google n-gram reports no usage of this phrase.

The blood of Christ was shed for the forgiveness of sins. The ninth chapter of Hebrews discusses this doctrine at length. But how does the blood poison sin?  There is a line, I believe it is in Barth’s commentary on Romans, 6^th chapter, that grace pulls up sin by the roots.  Pardon for sin is not merely a forgiveness, but a transformation. (Incidentally, this leads us to one of the great controversial issues in Christian theology: What is the precise relationship between forgiveness and transformation, positional and progressive sanctification?)

The act of being reconciled is inconsistent with sin, “How can we who died to sin still live in it?” Rom. 6:2

The sin having been poisoned would thus be dead and the soldiers now carcasses:

CAST their CURSED CARcasses out of my heart.

I take cursed carcasses to be an allusion to Hebrews 3, which recounts in part the death of the rebellious Israelites following the exodus from Egypt. Those who rebelled were cursed, they were not permitted to enter the promised land and their bodies, carcasses in the Authorize Version used by Taylor, were left outside of the promised land:

¹⁴ For we are made partakers of Christ, if we hold the beginning of our confidence stedfast unto the end; ¹⁵ While it is said, To day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts, as in the provocation. ¹⁶ For some, when they had heard, did provoke: howbeit not all that came out of Egypt by Moses. ¹⁷ But with whom was he grieved forty years? was it not with them that had sinned, whose carcases fell in the wilderness? ¹⁸ And to whom sware he that they should not enter into his rest, but to them that believed not? ¹⁹ So we see that they could not enter in because of unbelief.

Hebrews 3:14–19 (KJV)

He prays that his heart being cleansed of sin may then be properly adorned. It is a space being cleaned and then filled with something better:

My heart fill with thy love, let grace it dub.                                                                  15

Make this my silver studs with thy rich art.

His prayer is that his heart be filled with love and grace (grace being the sanctifying influence of the Spirit).  There is a second movement in the prayer: not merely filled but made into a work of art.  This is one of those self-referential moments in Taylor’s poems where the prayer of the poem is in part manifested by the poem. The poem itself is art: although he reference here is more directly visual art.

This two-step: clean then fill probably is an allusion to this statement from Jesus:

Luke 11:24–26 (KJV)

²⁴ When the unclean spirit is gone out of a man, he walketh through dry places, seeking rest; and finding none, he saith, I will return unto my house whence I came out. ²⁵ And when he cometh, he findeth it swept and garnished. ²⁶ Then goeth he, and taketh to him seven other spirits more wicked than himself; and they enter in, and dwell there: and the last state of that man is worse than the first.

A heart which is cleansed but not filled with something better is in danger. He is praying not merely for forgiveness but for transformation.

His heart being cleansed and made into art will then be a paradise, a garden (paradise means garden):

My soul shall then be thy sweet paradise

Thou’st be its rose, and it thy bed of spice.

Paradise has an interesting reference to heaven:

Luke 23:43 (KJV)

⁴³ And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, To day shalt thou be with me in paradise.

But even more to the point of this poem, is the use of the word “paradise” in the passage which is the motto for this poem:

Revelation 2:7–10 (KJV)

⁷ He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God.

⁸ And unto the angel of the church in Smyrna write; These things saith the first and the last, which was dead, and is alive; ⁹ I know thy works, and tribulation, and poverty, (but thou art rich) and I know the blasphemy of them which say they are Jews, and are not, but are the synagogue of Satan. ¹⁰ Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer: behold, the devil shall cast some of you into prison, that ye may be tried; and ye shall have tribulation ten days: be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life.

The imagery here comes from the Song of Solomon, which is an intimate love poem often read allegorically:

Song of Solomon 2:1–2 (KJV)

1 I am the rose of Sharon, and the lily of the valleys. 2 As the lily among thorns, so is my love among the daughters.

Song of Solomon 6:2 (KJV)

² My beloved is gone down into his garden, to the beds of spices, to feed in the gardens, and to gather lilies.

He prays that the Lord be the chief glory of the heart and the heart a fitting place for such a rose.

Stanza Seven

Adorn me Lord with holy huswifry.

All blanch my robes with clusters of thy graces.

Thus lead me to thy threshold: give mine eye

A peephole to see bright glory chases.

Then take me in: I’ll pay, when I possess

Thy throne and thee the rent in happiness.

Notes

Prepare me and let me see the beauty of the world to come. Then, when I come to it, I will repay that sight with thankfulness.

Adorn me Lord with holy huswifry.

All blanch my robes with clusters of thy graces.

We come to the petition which ends the poem. He first asked to be adorned.

The verb adorn has a perfectly comprehensible meaning here: prepare me. But there is also an allusion to the heavenly new world:

Revelation 21:1–2 (KJV)

1 And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea. 2 And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.

The people of God are referred to as the “bride”. In Hosea, Israel is referenced as a bridge. Hos. 2:2, etc. The church is referred to as the bride of Christ. Eph. 5:25-30

Prepare for this holy service and care. (huswifry)

The robes are “blanced”, that is, made white. We again have an eschatological allusion:

Revelation 7:13–14 (KJV)

¹³ And one of the elders answered, saying unto me, What are these which are arrayed in white robes? and whence came they? ¹⁴ And I said unto him, Sir, thou knowest. And he said to me, These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.

Revelation 19:7–10 (KJV)

⁷ Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready. ⁸ And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints. ⁹ And he saith unto me, Write, Blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb. And he saith unto me, These are the true sayings of God. ¹⁰ And I fell at his feet to worship him. And he said unto me, See thou do it not: I am thy fellowservant, and of thy brethren that have the testimony of Jesus: worship God: for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.

The culmination of history is a wedding, where the bride has been made ready to meet her husband. The poet is asking to be prepared for that wedding.

This helps underscore the importance of marriage as concept in Christianity. While the current sociological aspects are important, so is the eschatological reference. The concept of marriage of importance to human beings to teach of the coming event.

The robes are not merely washed white in blood, but they are further adorned with graces. This leads to another allusion, this time to the robes of the priest to enter the temple:

Exodus 39:22–26 (KJV)

²² And he made the robe of the ephod of woven work, all of blue. ²³ And there was an hole in the midst of the robe, as the hole of an habergeon, with a band round about the hole, that it should not rend. ²⁴ And they made upon the hems of the robe pomegranates of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and twined linen. ²⁵ And they made bells of pure gold, and put the bells between the pomegranates upon the hem of the robe, round about between the pomegranates; ²⁶ A bell and a pomegranate, a bell and a pomegranate, round about the hem of the robe to minister in; as the LORD commanded Moses.

Just as the people of God are referred to as the wife, they are referred to as priests:

1 Peter 2:9 (KJV)

⁹ But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light:

A priest is one who comes into the presence of God.

Having been prepared, he now requests a sight of what will come:

Thus lead me to thy threshold: give mine eye

A peephole to see bright glory chases.

Before we consider the details, notice that this references back to the beginning of the poem wherein the poet is distressed that his love is insufficient. The love is made active by means of a sight of the beloved. It is an increase in a greater desire for something holy which causes the change in his life.

He is asked to be led to the place of a view and there

to see bright glory chases.

A “chase” is an enclosed park or a hunting ground.  An example of that use of the word would be found in the poem “Chevy Chase”. 

Here the use would be the park, not the hunting ground. The idea would be a closed garden space. The image of a garden runs throughout Scripture. The first couple were placed in a garden. Jesus is buried in a garden tomb. Mary Magdalen mistakes Jesus for a “gardener.” The word “paradise” means garden. The Song of Solomon uses the image of a garden repeatedly for a place of romantic encounter:

Song of Solomon 5:1 (KJV)

¹ I am come into my garden, my sister, my spouse: I have gathered my myrrh with my spice; I have eaten my honeycomb with my honey; I have drunk my wine with my milk: eat, O friends; drink, yea, drink abundantly, O beloved.

Thus, Garden combines both eschatological and marriage images.

Then take me in: I’ll pay, when I possess

Thy throne and thee the rent in happiness.

The poet will possess the throne as a “joint heir” with Christ. Rom. 8:17

We end with happiness. Yet to rejoice in the Lord is end of all the other aspects of justification and sanctification. It is to rejoice in being reconciled to and living with our God. We give gifts and hope for the happiness of the one who receives that gift.

Stanza Six

Can’an in golden print enwalled with gems

A kingdom rim’d with glory round: in fine

A glorious crown pal’de thick with all the stems

Of Grace, and of all properties Divine.

How happy wilt thou make me when these shall                    35

As a blessed heritage unto me fall?

Notes

The import of this stanza is simple. A glorious kingdom is shown to him as his inheritance. He anticipates how happy he will be when he receives this inheritance.

Canaan was the land promised to Israel. As the promised land it functions as a picture of heaven. Here is an example from Jonathan Edwards, the son of Taylor’s friend:

“But the first possession he had in it was the possession of a burying place, or a possession for him to be in after he and his were dead; which signifies this, that the heavenly Canaan, the land of promise, the rest that remains for the people of God, is a land for them to possess, and abide and rest in, after they are dead.” Edwards, Jonathan. Notes on Scripture. Edited by Harry S. Stout and Stephen J. Stein, vol. 15, Yale University Press, 1998, p. 335.

He compares the sight of Canaan as an image which has been interlaid (enwalled) with gemstones.

Gem stones are used throughout the Scripture as an image of the glory of the world to come:

“This kingdom excels in the riches of it; gold doth not so much surpass iron, as this kingdom doth all other riches; ‘the gates are of pearl,’ Rev. 21:21. ‘and the foundations of it are garnished with all precious stones,’ ver. 19. It is enough for cabinets to have pearl; but were gates of pearl ever heard of before? It is said ‘kings shall throw down their crowns and scepters before it.’ Rev. 4:10 as counting all their glory and riches but dust in comparison of it; this kingdom hath Deity itself to enrich it, and these riches are such as cannot be weighed in the balance; neither the heart of man can conceive, nor the tongue of angel express them.” Watson, Thomas. “Discourses upon Christ’s Sermon on the Mount.” Discourses on Important and Interesting Subjects, Being the Select Works of the Rev. Thomas Watson, vol. 2, Blackie, Fullarton, & Co.; A. Fullarton & Co., 1829, p. 74.

He repeats the image this time as a kingdom of glory.

“In fine” means in conclusion. (Latin, finis)

The image of the kingdom is repeated, as a crown. Grace is made to be the adornment of a crown.

all properties Divine. There are two possible references here. This could be a generic reference to all things divine, pertaining to God, of any sort.

However, “properties” is a technical theological term. For example, this usage by Jonathan Edwards, “COMMUNICATION OF PROPERTIES with respect to the divine and human nature of Christ. Such a communication of properties and characters with respect to Christ in the language of Scripture, which divines suppose to have its foundation in the union of the divine and human natures of Jesus, is not absurd.” Misc. 1219. Properties is an equivalent of attributes.

This second usage means the glory of the world to come which so stirs Taylor’s heart is the nature of God himself. John Piper had a useful meditation on this particular point some years ago. https://www.desiringgod.org/books/god-is-the-gospel

The hope is not some place, as lovely as it may be, but communion with God. This is also known in Christian theology as beatific vision.

“CHAP. XLVI

“The happiness of the beatifical vision discovered

“Secondly, they shall have the Beatifical Vision of God, we shall be where he is, and we shall see his face. Says Christ, Father, I will, that those which thou hast given me, be where I am, that is a blessing; but in Rev. 22:4. it is said, They shall see his face, and that is more, They shall know as they are known,* 1 Cor. 13:12. It is the promise of the pure in heart, that they shall see God: 1 John 3:2. Behold, now we are the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be, but we know, that when he shall appear,* we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. It is the happiness of the Angels that they behold the face of God; so it shall be the happiness of the Saints to behold the face of God in heaven: As for me, I will behold thy face in righteousness, I shall be satisfied when I awake with thy likeness, Psal. 17:15. and so we may have the help of divers Scriptures to shew, that this is the happiness of the Saints.” Burroughs, Jeremiah. Moses His Choice, with His Eye Fixed upon Heaven: Discovering the Happy Condition of a Self-Denying Heart. John Field, 1650, p. 535.

This sight is the greatest answer for the human heart.

“tu excitas, ut laudare te delectet, quia fecisti nos ad te et inquietum est cor nostrum, donec requiescat in te.” Augustine of Hippo. St. Augustine’s Confessions, Vol. 1: Latin Text. Edited by T. E. Page and W. H. D. Rouse, Translated by William Watts, The Macmillan Co.; William Heinemann, 1912, p. 2.

“Because you have made us for Yourself, and our hearts are restless till they find their rest in Thee.”  Augustine, Confessions, 1.1.1. You can find an analysis of that sentence here. https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/justin-taylor/an-analysis-of-one-of-the-greatest-sentences-ever-written/