Ah! wretched, vile, ungrateful heart

Ah! wretched, vile, ungrateful heart

Author: Anne Steele
Published in 65 hymnals

Representative Text

I. Ah! wretched, vile, ungrateful heart,
That can from Jesus thus depart,
Thus fond of trifles vainly rove,
Forgetful of a Saviour's love!

II. In vain I charge my thoughts to stay,
And chide each vanity away,
In vain, alas! resolve to bind
This rebel heart, this wand'ring mind.

III. Through all resolves, how soon it flies,
And mocks the weak, the slender ties!
There's nought beneath a pow'r divine,
That can this roving heart confine.

IV. Jesus, to thee, I would return,
At thy dear feet repentant mourn;
There let me view thy pard'ning love,
And never from thy sight remove.

V. O let thy love with sweet controul,
Bind all the passions of my soul,
Bid ev'ry vanity depart,
And dwell forever in my heart.

Source: Poems on Subjects Chiefly Devotional, Vol. 1 #119

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 >

Text Information

First Line: Ah! wretched, vile, ungrateful heart
Author: Anne Steele
Copyright: Public Domain

Notes

Ah, wretched, vile, ungrateful heart. Anne Steele. [Lent.] Under the title of "The Inconstant Heart," this hymn was published in her Poems on Subjects chiefly Devotional, 1760, vol. i. p. 119, in 5 stanzas of 4 lines; again in the next edition, 1780; and again in Sedgwick's reprint of her Hymns, 1863. Its use is unknown, or nearly so, in Great Britain, but in America it is given in several of the most important modern collections, including Hatfield's Church Hymn Book, 1872, No. 970, and others.

--John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology (1907)

Timeline

Instances

Instances (1 - 65 of 65)
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A Collection of Hymns #90

A Selection of Hymns....3d ed #d6

Christian Psalms and Hymns to Aid in Public and Private Devotion #d15

Church Melodies, a Collection of Psalms, Hymns and Spiritual Songs #d10

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Church Melodies #457

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Church Pastorals, hymns and tunes for public and social worship #371

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Church Psalmist #373

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Church Psalmist #373

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Church Psalmist #373

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Church Psalmody #H296

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Church Psalmody #296

Evangelical Musick #d2

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Evangelical Musick #166b

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Hymns for Church and Home #90

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Hymns for Social Worship #94

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Manual of Christian Psalmody #296

Melodies of the Church #d10

Parish Psalmody #d9

Parish Psalmody #d10

Text

Poems on Subjects Chiefly Devotional, Vol. 1 #119

Psalms and Hymns Adapted to Social, Private and Public Worship #d6

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Psalms and Hymns #336

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Sacred lyrics, or Select hymns #120

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Sacred Songs for Family and Social Worship #105

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Sacred Songs for Family and Social Worship #120

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Seamen's Hymns #373

Seamen's Hymns and Devotional Assistant #d6

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Social Psalmist #373

Songs for Social and Public Worship. Rev. ed. #d7

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Songs for the Sanctuary, or Hymns and Tunes for Christian Worship #562

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Songs for the Sanctuary; or Psalms and Hymns for Christian Worship (Baptist Ed.) #562

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Songs for the Sanctuary; or, Psalms and Hymns for Christian Worship (Words only) #562

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Songs for the Sanctuary #562

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Songs for the Sanctuary #562

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Songs for the Sanctuary #562

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Songs of the Church #1002

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Spiritual Songs for Social Worship #166

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Spiritual Songs for Social Worship #166

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Spiritual Songs for Social Worship #166

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Temple Melodies #26

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The Baptist Harp #282

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The Baptist Hymn and Tune Book for Public Worship #830

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The Baptist Hymn and Tune Book, for Public Worship #285.830

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The Baptist Hymn Book #830

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The Baptist Hymn Book #642

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The Chapel hymn book, with tunes #499

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The Christian Hymn Book #341

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The Christian Psalmist; or, Watts' Psalms and Hymns #305

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The Cluster of Spiritual Songs, Divine Hymns and Sacred Poems #DLII

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The Lecture-Room Hymn-Book #H331

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The Presbyterian Hymnal #206

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The Presbyterian Hymnal #206

The Primitive Hymns #d7

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The Psalmody #773

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The Sabbath Hymn and Tune Book #115d

The Sabbath Hymn Book. Baptist ed. #d16

Union Hymns #d3

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