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The Christian

I

Honour and happiness unite
To make the Christian’s name a praise;
How fair the scene, how clear the light,
That fill the remnant of his days!

II

A kingly character he bears,
No change his priestly office knows;
Unfading is the crown he wears,
His joys can never reach a close.

III

Adorn’d with glory from on high,
Salvation shines upon his face;
His robe is of th’ethereal dye,
His steps are dignity and grace.

IV

Inferior honours he disdains,
Nor stoops to take applause from earth:
The King of kings himself maintains
Th expenses of his heavenly birth.

V

The noblest creature seen below,
Ordain’d to fill a throne above;
God gives him all he can bestow
His kingdom of eternal love!

VI

My soul is ravish’d at the thought!
Methinks from earth I see him rise!
Angels congratulate his lot,
And shout him welcome to the skies!

Where this text comes from

First published in Olney Hymns (1779). First located printing is this volume; an earlier periodical printing has not been established. [1] [2] [3]

Structure read from the source's markup; the words have not been compared against a page scan. Last checked 2026-08-15.

Taken from Standard Ebooks, standardebooks/john-newton_william-cowper_olney-hymns, book-3.xhtml. Rights: public domain (SE dedication; underlying text pre-1931).

Earlier sources (2)

This poem as JSON or plain text. Line anchors #L1–#L24.

Cite this poem

William Cowper (1731–1800). “The Christian.” First published in Olney Hymns (1779). Text: Poem Index, https://poemindex.org/william-cowper/the-christian/. Append #L14 to cite line 14, or #L4-L9 for lines 4–9.

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