The ball, the feast, the flowing bowl
Do they not still insnare the soul,
The passions fatally incite,
Poison the heart with vain delight,
The unsuspicious guests draw in,
Till partners of another’s sin,
They quite throw off remorse and shame,
And mangle every virtuous name.
The ball, the feast, the flowing bowl
Hymnal/Album: Originally titled: “‘When Herod’s birth-day was kept, the daughter of Herodias danced before them, and pleased Herod.’—[Matt. 14,] v. 6.” This hymn appears in the 1766 manuscript “MS Matthew.” This manuscript is part of the collection of the Methodist Archive and Research Centre in The John Rylands Library, The University of Manchester (accession number MA 1977/577, Charles Wesley Notebooks Box 3). Accessed through the website of The Center for Studies in the Wesleyan Tradition, Duke Divinity School. Published in The Poetical Works of John and Charles Wesley, Collected and Arranged by G. Osborn, Vol. 10 (London: Wesleyan-Methodist Conference Office, 1870), page 279.
Publishing: Public Domain