A Prayer, Under The Pressure Of Violent Anguish.

    O Thou Great Being! what Thou art
        Surpasses me to know;
    Yet sure I am, that known to Thee
        Are all Thy works below.

    Thy creature here before Thee stands,
        All wretched and distrest;
    Yet sure those ills that wring my soul
        Obey Thy high behest.

    Sure Thou, Almighty, canst not act
        From cruelty or wrath!
    O, free my weary eyes from tears,
        Or close them fast in death!

    But if I must afflicted be,
        To suit some wise design;
    Then, man my soul with firm resolves
        To bear and not repine!

Robert Burns

Robert Burns, also known as Rabbie Burns, the Bard of Ayrshire, and various other names and epithets, was a Scottish poet and lyricist. He is widely regarded as the national poet of Scotland and is celebrated worldwide. Born on January 25, 1759, in Alloway, he is best known for works such as 'Auld Lang Syne,' 'Scots Wha Hae,' and 'A Red, Red Rose.' He passed away on July 21, 1796, in Dumfries.

Robert Burns

Macpherson's Farewell.

Robert Burns, Simple Poetry

Wae Is My Heart.

Robert Burns, Simple Poetry

To A Mountain Daisy, On Turning One Down With The Plough In April, 1786.

Robert Burns, Simple Poetry

Verses To John Rankine.

Robert Burns, Simple Poetry

English

Suggested Poems

Explore a curated selection of verses that share themes, styles, and emotional resonance with the poem you've just read.

A Prayer - In The Prospect Of Death.

    O Thou unknown, Almighty Cause
        Of all my hope and fear?
    In whose dread presence, ere an hour
        Perhaps I must appear!

    If I have wander'd in those paths
        Of life I ought to shun;
    As something, loudly, in my breast,
        Remonstrates I have done;

    Thou know'st that Thou hast formed me,
        With passions wild and strong;
    And list'ning to their witching voice
        Has often led me wrong.

    Where human weakness has come short,
        Or frailty stept aside,
    Do Thou, All-Good! for such thou art,
        In shades of darkness hide.

    Where with intention I have err'd,
        No other plea I have,
    But, Thou art good; and goodness still
        Delighteth to forgi...

Robert Burns

Stanzas - On The Same Occasion.

    Why am I loth to leave this earthly scene?
        How I so found it full of pleasing charms?
    Some drops of joy with draughts of ill between:
        Some gleams of sunshine 'mid renewing storms:
    Is it departing pangs my soul alarms?
        Or Death's unlovely, dreary, dark abode?
    For guilt, for guilt, my terrors are in arms;
        I tremble to approach an angry God,
    And justly smart beneath his sin-avenging rod.

    Fain would I say, "Forgive my foul offence!"
        Fain promise never more to disobey;
    But, should my Author health again dispense,
        Again I might desert fair virtue's way:
    Again in folly's path might go astray;
        Again exalt the brute and sink the man;
    Then how should I for heavenly mercy pray,

Robert Burns

Holy Willie's Prayer.

"And send the godly in a pet to pray."

Pope.


    O thou, wha in the heavens dost dwell,
    Wha, as it pleases best thysel',
    Sends ane to heaven, and ten to hell,
        A' for thy glory,
    And no for ony gude or ill
        They've done afore thee!

    I bless and praise thy matchless might,
    Whan thousands thou hast left in night,
    That I am here afore thy sight,
        For gifts and grace,
    A burnin' and a shinin' light
        To a' this place.

    What was I, or my generation,
    That I should get sic exaltation,
    I wha deserve sic just damnation,
        For broken laws,
    Five thousand years 'fore my creation,
        Thro' Adam's cause.

    When frae my mither's womb I fell,...

Robert Burns

The Prayer Of Nature. [1]

1

Father of Light! great God of Heaven!
Hear'st thou the accents of despair?
Can guilt like man's be e'er forgiven?
Can vice atone for crimes by prayer?


2

Father of Light, on thee I call!
Thou see'st my soul is dark within;
Thou, who canst mark the sparrow's fall,
Avert from me the death of sin.


3

No shrine I seek, to sects unknown;
Oh, point to me the path of truth!
Thy dread Omnipotence I own;
Spare, yet amend, the faults of youth.


4

Let bigots rear a gloomy fane,
Let Superstition hail the pile,
Let priests, to spread their sable reign,
With tales of mystic rites beguile.


5

Shall man confine his Maker's sway
To Gothic domes of mouldering stone?
Th...

George Gordon Byron

My Prayer.

O God! forgive the erring thought,
The erring word and deed,
And in thy mercy hear the Christ
Who comes to intercede.

My sins, like mountain-weights of lead,
Weigh heavy on my soul;
I'm bruised and broken in this strife,
But Thou canst make me whole.

Allay this fever of unrest,
That fights against the Will;
And in Thy still small voice do Thou
But whisper, "Peace, be still!"

Until within this heart of mine
Thy lasting peace come down,
Will all the waves of Passion roll,
Each good resolve to drown.

We walk in blindness and dark night
Through half our earthly way;
Our clouds of weaknesses obscure
The glory of the day.

We cannot lead the lives we would,
But grope in dumb amaze,
Leaving the straight and f...

Charles Sangster

To Ruin.

I.

    All hail! inexorable lord!
    At whose destruction-breathing word,
        The mightiest empires fall!
    Thy cruel, woe-delighted train,
    The ministers of grief and pain,
        A sullen welcome, all!
    With stern-resolv'd, despairing eye,
        I see each aimed dart;
    For one has cut my dearest tie,
        And quivers in my heart.
            Then low'ring and pouring,
                The storm no more I dread;
            Though thick'ning and black'ning,
                Round my devoted head.

II.

    And thou grim pow'r, by life abhorr'd,
    While life a pleasure can afford,
        Oh! hear a wretch's prayer!
    No more I shrink appall'd, afraid;
    I court, I beg thy friendly aid,
       ...

Robert Burns