For One in Pain

Pain, my old companion pain,
Seldom parted from my side,
Welcome to thy seat again,
Here, if God permits, abide:
Pledge of sure-approaching ease,
Haste to stop my wretched breath,
Rugged messenger of peace,
Joyful harbinger of death.

Foe to nature as thou art,
I embrace thee as my friend:
Thou shalt bid my griefs depart,
Bring me to my journey's end:
Yes, I joyfully decay,
Homeward through thy help I haste;
Thou hast shook the house of clay;
Surely it will fall at last.

Kind remembrancer, to thee
Many a cheerful thought I owe:
Witness of mortality,
Wise through thee my end I know;
Warn'd by every pain I feel
Of my dissolution near;
Pleased the lessening hours I tell:
Quickly shall the last be here.

Sacred, salutary ill,
Thee though foolish man miscall,
Mingled by my Father's skill;
Sweet as honey is the gall:
Who beneath thy pressure groan,
Chief of ills who reckon thee,
Sin, alas! they ne'er have known:
Sin is perfect misery.

Free from sin I soon shall live,
Free from sin while here below,
Only thou may'st still survive,
Till the joys of heaven I know,
Of my starry crown possess'd;
All thy office then is o'er,
When I gain the glorious rest,
Pain and suffering are no more.