faced.

My thoughts on heaven ever dwelt,
For earth I but aversion felt.
My heart exalted Jesus' name,
His kingdom was my constant theme;
My prayer was, by repentance true,
All carnal passions to subdue.

It is understandable, at least, that a young man with such sentiments
should forego the prospect of worldly honor for a chance to serve his
Master.

Kingo was ordained in the Church of Our Lady at Copenhagen in September,
1661, and was installed in his new office a few weeks later. The seven
years that he spent in the obscure parish were, no doubt, among the most
fruitful years of Kingo's life, proving the truth of the old adage that
it is better that a man should confer honor on his position than that the
position should confer honor upon him. His fiery, forceful eloquence made
him known as an exceptionally able and earnest pastor, and his literary
work established his fame as one of the foremost Danish poets of his day.

While still at Vedby, Kingo had written a number of poems which, widely
circulated in manuscripts, had gained him a local fame. But he now
published a number of new works that attained nation-wide recognition.
These latter works compare well with the best poetry of the period and
contain passages that still may be read with interest. The style is
vigorous, the imagery striking and at times beautiful, but the Danish
language was too little cultivated and contemporary taste too uncertain
to sustain a work of consistent excellence. Most successful of Kingo's
early poems are "Karsten Atke's Farewell to Lion County", a truly felt
and finely expressed greeting to his friends, the Atkes, on their
departure from their former home, and "Chrysillis", a lovesong, written
in a popular French style that was then very much admired in Denmark.
Both poems contain parts that are surprisingly fine, and they attained an
immense popularity. But although Kingo throughout his life continued to
write secular poetry that won him the highest praise, that part of his
work is now well nigh forgotten. It is truly interesting to compare the
faded beauty of his secular poems with the perennial freshness of his
hymns.

It was inevitable that Kingo, with his high ambitions and undoubted
ability should desire a larger field of labor. His salary was so small
that he had to live in the home of his employer, a circumstance that for
various reasons was not always pleasant. Pastor Worm had married thrice