To Love

My God, I love Thee;

Not because I hope for heaven thereby,

Nor yet because who love Thee not must die eternally.

Thou, O my Jesus, Thou didst me up on the cross embrace;

For me didst bear the nails and spear, and manifold disgrace.

Why, then why, O blessed Jesus Christ, should I not love Thee well?

Not for the hope of winning heaven or of escaping hell;

Not with the hope of gaining aught; not seeking a reward;

But as thyself hast loved me, O ever-loving Lord!

E’en so I love Thee, and will love, and in Thy praise will sing;

Solely because Thou art my God, and my Eternal King.

Anonymous seventeenth-century Latin poem

Translated by Rev. Edward Caswall

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