The Forty-sixth Psalm by Samuel Taylor Coleridge

"God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore will not we fear, though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea; . . . " So reads Psalm 46:1-2 in the King James Bible. Here, from The Poets' Book of Psalms (1995), edited by Laurance Wieder, is English poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge's version of Psalm 46.


THE FORTY-SIXTH PSALM

God is our strength and our refuge: therefore will we not tremble,
Though the earth be removed and though the perpetual mountains
Sink in the swell of the ocean! God is our strength and our refuge.
There is a river the flowing whereof shall gladden the city,
Hallelujah! the city of God! Jehovah shall help her.
The idolaters raged, the kingdoms were moving in fury;
But he uttered his voice: Earth melted away from beneath them.
Hallelujah! The eternal is with us, almighty Jehovah!
Fearful the works of the Lord, yea fearful his desolations;
But he maketh the battle to cease, he burneth the spear and the chariot.
Hallelujah! The eternal is with us, the God of our fathers!

Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772-1834)