CQOD Poetry Index of First Lines

A

A fish in water does not drown—Mechthild of Magdeburg 11/19/10

A God must have a God for company—MacDonald 12/24/08

A happy, happy Christmas—Havergal 12/28/11

A Rose Plant in Jericho—Rossetti 4/27/13

All night had shouts of men and cry—Meynell 4/15/06

Am I a stone, and not a sheep—Rossetti 4/27/07

And have the bright immensities—Robbins 7/11/04

And I said to the man who stood at the gate of the year—Haskins 11/8/04

And thus we rust Life’s iron chain—Wilde 11/18/06

And what am I, to know—Dudley-Smith 4/29/10

Art thou weary, art thou languid—Stephen the Sabaite 7/23/11

Awake, glad heart! get up, and sing!—Vaughan 11/24/13

B

Be not afraid to pray—to pray is right—Coleridge 7/27/05

Be Thou my Vision, O Lord of my heart—Anonymous 10/31/06

Be triumphant, be triumphant—Carmichael 1/18/11

Because upon the first glad Easter day—Munson 6/30/12

Blessed night, when first that plain—Bonar 12/22/08

Blow out your foolish lamps; here are two honest men—Madeleva 4/20/11

Break Thou the bread of life—Lathbury 8/5/09

Bright portals of the sky—Drummond 12/23/11

But lo’ the snare is broke, the captive’s freed—Wesley 6/5/12

By fruit, the ancient Foe’s device—Germanus 11/15/13

C

Christ claims our help in many a strange disguise—Anonymous 3/4/05

Christ is come to be thy Light—Havergal 12/24/10

Christmas Eve, and twelve of the clock—Hardy 12/24/03

Come down, O Christ, and help me! reach Thy hand—Wilde 12/29/08

Come, Holy Ghost (for moved by thee—Wesley 3/2/09

Come let us join our cheerful songs—Watts 12/25/11

Come Love, come Lord, and that long day—Crashaw 5/1/05

Come, my Way, my Truth, my Life—Herbert 2/27/06

Come worship the King—Studdert Kennedy 12/24/05

Consecrated brethren, we who keep our confidence—Adams 5/19/12

D

Dear Jesus! ’tis Thy Holy Face—Thérèse of Lisieux 5/3/09

Death, be not proud, though some have called thee—Donne 3/31/08

Deep unto deep, O Lord—Carmichael 4/22/09

Drop, drop, slow tears, and bathe those beauteous feet—Fletcher 10/25/11

E

Earth breaks up, time drops away—Browning 3/2/12

Eternal God! O thou that only art—Quarles 10/22/11

Eternal Lord, how faint and small—Adams 5/19/05

F

Father eternal, Ruler of creation—Housman 12/22/12

For the Christ-child who comes is the Master of all—Brooks 12/24/12

For the flowers are great blessings—Smart 6/23/11

For the power Thou hast given me to lay hold of things unseen—Baillie 9/20/05

For the preacher’s merit or demerit—Browning 6/23/08

Four things a man must learn to do—Dyke 8/23/07

From subtle love of softening things—Carmichael 11/10/05

From Thee all skill and science flow—Kingsley 8/4/09

From thine, as then, the healing virtue goes—MacDonald 7/17/08

G

Gather my broken fragments to a whole—MacDonald 11/14/08

Given, not lent—Meynell 12/18/11

God appears, and God is Light—Blake 1/15/05

God of pity and love, return to this earth—Nathan 12/11/05

God’s child in Christ adopted—Christ my all—Coleridge 10/24/06

God’s Road is all uphill—Guiterman 10/10/08

Good Friday in my heart! Fear and affright!—Coleridge 4/14/06

Good when He gives, supremely good—Lawrence 11/14/10

H

Had I the tongues of Greeks and Jews—Watts 11/26/12

Hard it is, very hard—Sayers 8/6/09

Hard were the nails and cruel—Williams 2/13/13

Have you no words? ah! think again—Cowper 9/19/11

He died for me: what can I offer Him?—Rossetti 4/27/12

He has come! the Christ of God—Bonar 12/25/06

He has gone away, the Well-Beloved—Messiaen 5/9/09

He is my Altar, I His holy place—Quarles 10/18/05

He was the Word that spake it—Donne 3/31/05

Heaven overarches earth and sea—Rossetti 4/27/09

Here is the Truth in a little creed—Markham 12/21/10

Here, where our Lord once laid his Head—Crashaw 4/24/11

High o’er the lonely hills black turns to gray—Struther 12/24/06

Hosanna to the King—Watts 7/14/10

Hosanna to the royal Son—Watts 3/28/10

How shall I praise th’ eternal God—Watts 11/26/11

I

I bind my heart, this tide—Watt 4/16/07

I cannot think that God would be content—Harkness 12/8/08

I come in the little things—Underhill 5/1/08

I greet Thy sepulchre, salute Thy grave—Vaughan 4/23/07

I had no God but these—Tabb 4/5/05

I have no wit, no words, no tears—Rossetti 4/27/11

I Heard the voice of Jesus say—Bonar 9/30/11

I know the road to Jericho—Poteat 4/28/08

I know Thee, Saviour, Who Thou art—Wesley 5/24/06

I love, my God, but with no love of mine—Guyon 8/4/04

I need not shout my faith. Thrice eloquent—Towne 5/7/04

I saw a stable, low and very bare—Coleridge 12/24/07

I see the wrong that round me lies—Whittier 2/14/06

I sought Him where my logic led—Hay 2/26/06

I thirst, but not as once I did—Cowper 5/15/05

If I lay waste and wither up with doubt—Howells 9/19/04

If it be all for naught, for nothingness—Anonymous 8/8/09

If on our daily course our mind—Keble 7/14/12

If that in sight of God is great—Trench 7/22/12

If there had anywhere appeared in space—Trench 4/7/07

If we with earnest effort could succeed—Trench 12/6/05

Immortal Love, author of this great frame—Herbert 2/27/07

“In pastures green?” Not always; sometimes He—Barry 7/23/05

In the pure soul, although it sing or pray—Phelps 12/26/10

Incarnate Word! Thou Word of God alone!—Thérèse of Lisieux 5/26/08

It fortifies my soul to know—Clough 8/25/09

It’s true we cannot reach Christ’s forti’th day—Herbert 2/27/09

J

Jesu, be endless praise to Thee—Zinzendorf 4/28/11

Jesu, priceless treasure—Franck 7/28/04

Jesus, as a mother you gather your people to you—Anselm of Canterbury 4/21/05

Jesus came!—and came for me—Havergal 12/25/04

Jesus invites His saints—Watts 3/28/09

Jesus is God! The solid earth—Faber 3/6/11

Jesus shall reign where’er the sun—Watts 6/1/07

JESUS, the infinite I AM—Wesley 5/24/07

Jesus, thou joy of loving hearts—Bernard of Clairvaux 4/3/12

Jesus! where’er thy people meet—Cowper 7/17/13

Jesus! why dost Thou love me so?—Faber 10/31/07

Joy to the world, the Lord is come!—Watts 12/26/06

Justice and Judgment are thy throne—Watts 12/20/05

K

Kind souls, you wonder why, love you—Patmore 12/2/13

L

Let songs of praises fill the sky!—Cotterill 6/11/07

Let us not mock God with metaphor—Updike 4/8/12

Let us rise in early morning—John of Damascus 8/7/12

“Little one, who straight hast come—MacDonald 12/25/10

Lo, God, our God has come!—Bonar 12/25/09

Long did I toil, and knew no earthly rest—Quarles 7/3/09

Lord, come away—Taylor 11/28/09

Lord, forgive—Schroy 11/10/07

Lord, I am glad for the great gift of living—Towne 11/27/04

Lord, I have shut the door, speak now the word—Runyan 2/21/10

Lord, it belongs not to my care—Baxter 6/14/05

Lord of all hopefulness, Lord of all joy—Struther 11/18/11

Lord of all pots and pans and things, since I’ve no time to be—Hallack 12/26/04

Lord, what a change within us one short hour—Trench 1/1/08

Lord, when the sense of Thy sweet grace—Crashaw 2/2/11

LORD, who hast taught to us on earth—Massie 5/24/10

Love came down at Christmas—Rossetti 12/22/10

Love is strong as death—Rossetti 4/27/06

Love is that liquour sweet and most divine—Herbert 2/27/08

Love’s as hard as nails—Lewis 4/21/11

Loving looks the large-eyed cow—MacDonald 12/21/12

M

Make no mistake: if He rose at all—Updike 3/31/13

Mighty Nothing! unto thee—Crashaw 4/5/12

More things are wrought by prayer—Tennyson 11/17/04

Morning breaks upon the tomb—Collyer 4/16/06

Morning has broken like the first morning—Farjeon 8/15/09

My God, how endless is Thy love!—Watts 3/29/07

My God, I love Thee—not because—Anonymous 1/28/08

My shoulders ache beneath my pack—Kilmer 4/4/12

My windows open to the autumn night—Johnson 9/8/09

N

Never was fount so clear, undimm’d and bright—John of the Cross 12/14/08

No mortal object did these eyes behold—Buonarrotti 4/6/13

Now hath my life across a stormy sea—Buonarrotti 4/6/05

O

O Christ, my life, possess me utterly—MacDonald 5/17/08

O Christ, our joy, to Whom is giv’n—Housman 5/6/12

O drink and bread—Vaughan 11/14/11

O for a closer walk with God—Cowper 6/23/04

O for a thousand tongues to sing—Wesley 1/25/08

O God, grant that today—Barclay 10/15/06

O God of earth and altar—Chesterton 12/5/06

O Jesus Christ, babe, man, eternal son—MacDonald 12/11/11

O Jesus, King most wonderful!—Bernard of Clairvaux 8/20/09

O little town of Bethlehem—Brooks 12/26/07

O Lord! how happy should we be—Anstice 11/1/08

O Lord our God—Alcuin 3/19/09

O the mystery, passing wonder—Andrew of Crete 8/7/11

Once more the Church is seized with sudden fear—Wordsworth 12/31/13

One takes a risk when one invites the Lord—Holloway 12/29/13

Our Saviour Christ was born—Havergal 12/19/12

P

Peace does not mean the end of all our striving—Studdert Kennedy 3/8/05

Prayer, the Church’s banquet, Angel’s age—Herbert 8/8/12

Q

R

Rejoice in God, O ye tongues; give the glory to the Lord, and the Lamb—Smart 9/24/10

Run, shepherds, run where Bethlem blest appears—Drummond 12/15/13

S

Search while thou wilt, and let thy reason go—Browne 8/22/12

Sing, men and angels, sing, for God our Life and King—Masefield 3/26/05

Some wish to live within the sound—Studd 8/19/05

Spirit divine, attend our prayers—Reed 3/27/08

Spring bursts today—Rossetti 4/27/10

Still as of old—Cholmondeley 3/29/10

... stooping very low, He engraves with care—St. John 3/5/10

Sun of my soul! Thou Saviour dear—Keble 7/14/05

Sunshine let it be, or frost—Coleridge 10/26/05

T

Teach us, good Lord, to serve Thee as Thou deservest—Ignatius of Loyola 8/20/10

Thanks be to thee—Richard of Chichester 6/16/13

The blessed son of God only—Coverdale 12/8/11

The deaf may hear the Saviour’s voice—Keble 7/14/04

The eve His life of love drew near its end—Thérèse of Lisieux 4/1/10

The fear of Hell, or aiming to be blest—Waller 12/20/08

The God of love my shepherd is—Herbert 2/27/12

The grief was common, common were the cries—Drummond 9/11/11

“The hungry sheep look up, and are not fed.”—Adams 5/19/09

The King of glory sends his Son—Watts 12/25/05

The King of love my Shepherd is—Baker 7/29/11

The Kings of the earth are men of might—Kilmer 8/21/12

The Lord can clear the darkest skies—Watts 10/8/04

The Mother sits by the rough-hewn byre—Flandreau 12/24/13

The prayers I make will then be sweet indeed—Buonarrotti 11/24/12

The shepherds sing; and shall I silent be?—Herbert 12/19/13

The soft light from a stable door—Cox 12/24/09

The trivial round, the common task—Keble 7/14/11

The world is charged with the grandeur of God—Hopkins 5/9/10

Thee, Lord, before the close of day—Ambrose 10/16/08

There are three lessons I would write—Schiller 9/7/07

There is a stream, whose gentle flow—Watts 1/1/09

“There is no God,” the foolish saith—Browning 9/4/12

They cast their nets in Galilee, just off the hills of brown—Percy 9/28/06

They haled him trembling to the Judgment Seat—Porter 8/3/09

They were all looking for a king—MacDonald 12/23/13

This is the irrational season—L’Engle 12/23/08

This is the month, and this the happy morn—Milton 12/25/07

This outer world is but the pictured scroll—Noyes 11/20/13

Thou hadst no youth, great God—Faber 2/15/12

Thou hallowed chosen morn of praise—John of Damascus 8/7/13

Thou hast not made, or taught me, Lord, to care—MacDonald 12/25/08

Thou wayfaring Jesus, a pilgrim and stranger—Dyke 2/6/11

Thou who art Lord of all the tender pities—Studdert Kennedy 3/8/08

Though Christ a thousand times—Anonymous 12/28/09

Thy country, Wilberforce, with just disdain—Cowper 8/25/10

Time is—Dyke 4/7/09

’Tis the day of resurrection!—John of Damascus 8/7/09

To die of love, O martyrdom most blest!—Thérèse of Lisieux 10/1/08

To him that chose us first—Watts 8/6/10

To live of love, it is to dry Thy tears—Thérèse of Lisieux 2/22/09

To live of love, it is to know no fear—Thérèse of Lisieux 10/1/09

To live of love, it is when Jesus sleeps—Thérèse of Lisieux 8/30/09

To live of love, ’tis Mary’s part to share—Thérèse of Lisieux 5/29/10

To live of love, ’tis without stint to give—Thérèse of Lisieux 10/1/11

Tongues of fire from heaven descend—Taylor 6/12/11

Tune Thou my harp—Carmichael 1/18/12

Two went to pray? O rather say—Crashaw 9/21/11

U

Unto you the Child is born—Havergal 12/25/13

V

Vain is the chiming of forgotten bells—Kilmer 1/31/07

W

We rest on Thee, our shield and our defender!—Cherry 1/7/05

Welcome! all wonders in one sight!—Crashaw 12/23/07

Well may this body poorer, feebler grow!—MacDonald 2/28/10

What blessing can I wish you, O my friends—Phelps 6/17/13

What can I give Him—Rossetti 4/27/08

What sudden blaze of song—Keble 11/27/13

When I consider how my light is spent—Milton 3/15/05

When I survey the wond’rous cross—Watts 11/26/13

When night comes, list thy deeds; make plain the way—Vaughan 10/13/04

When on my day of life the night is falling—Whittier 2/16/09

Where shall the world be found, where will the word—Eliot 10/21/12

Who hath not marvelled at the might of Kings—Moreland 12/30/07

Who seeks for heaven alone to save his soul—Dyke 8/30/08

Why does He make our hearts so strangely still—Markham 1/1/06

Why should men love the Church? Why should they love her laws?—Eliot 12/13/05

Why should the children of a king—Watts 7/7/11

With this ambiguous earth—Meynell 8/9/09

With what presumption have we dared to voice—Emans 5/31/09

Would’st thou the life of souls discern?—Keble 7/14/13

X

Y

Ye choirs of New Jerusalem—Fulbert of Chartres 4/4/10

Ye holy angels bright—Baxter 1/29/09

Yet, Lord, restore thine image, hear my call—Herbert 2/27/13

You are leaving port under sealed orders and in a troubled period—Marshall 4/23/12

Z

 
Compilation Copyright, 1996-2013, by Robert McAnally Adams,
        Curator, Christian Quotation of the Day,
        with Robert Douglas, principal contributor
Logo image Copyright 1996 by Shay Barsabe, of “Simple GIFs”, by kind permission.
Send comments to curator@cqod.com.

Last updated: 05/10/13

↑ Grab this Headline Animator