[Retire my Soul, exert thy pow’rs] 

Retire my Soul, exert thy pow’rs

   And view thy Self within;

Search every winding of my heart

   And find out every Sin.

In vain, alas, in vain I strive,

   I’m lost a thousand ways;

In vain I try my Self t’explore,

   I’m lost in deep amaze.

My num’rous sins have form’d a mist,

   My heart is hard as stone;

Great God of Nature and of Grace,

   It is thy work alone.

Thou sun of righteousness arise

   And drive these shades away;

Arise with healing in thy wings

   And turn my night to day.

Lord soften this relentless rock,

   Dissolve this heart of stone;

Dispel these thick and gloomy clouds,

   For ’tis thy work alone.

Text: Timothy Whelan, ed., Nonconformist Women Writers, 1720-1840, 8 vols. (London: Pickering & Chatto, 2011),  vol. 8, p. 23; Steele Collection, STE 2/2/1, Angus Library, Regent's Park College, Oxford.