Come Said Jesus,At a time in history when female published writers were very rare, Anna Laetitia Barbauld stood out with her English Romantic style of writing poetry. She also produced a number of essays, including works on political subjects, and was a noted children’s author.
She was certainly outspoken, even into her late sixties, and she fell foul of literary society when she published a poem called Eighteen Hundred and Eleven which, at the time of the Napoleonic wars, was derided as unpatriotic. She basically saw England as a post-war ruin and she protested vehemently about the British involvement in the war. The reviews of this poem were so vicious that she decided to lay down her pen for the rest of her life.
Come Said Jesus by Anna Laetitia Barbauld
Come unto me all ye that are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
Come, said Jesus’ sacred voice,
Come and make my paths your choice:
I will guide you to your home;
Weary pilgrim, hither come!
Thou, who houseless, sole, forlorn,
Long hast borne the proud world’s scorn,
Long hast roamed the barren waste,—
Weary pilgrim, hither haste!
Ye who tossed on beds of pain,
Seek for ease, but seek in vain,
Ye whose swollen and sleepless eyes
Watch to see the morning rise;
Ye, by fiercer anguish torn,
In strong remorse for guilt who mourn;
Here repose your heavy care,
A wounded spirit who can bear!
Sinner, come! for here is found
Balm that flows for every wound;
Peace, that ever shall endure,
Rest eternal, sacred, sure.
