Come Near

Come near to me, I need Thy glorious presence.
    Through the dense darkness of this troubled hour
Shine on my soul, and fill it with the essence
    Of Thy pervading and uplifting power.
    Come near, come near to me!

Come nearer yet, I have no strength to reach Thee;
    My soul is like a bird with broken wings.
Lean down from Thy fair height of peace, and teach me
    The balm Thy touch to mortal bruises brings.
    Lean down, O God, lean down!

Come near, and yet if those eternal places
    Hold greater tasks to occupy Thy hands,
Send Thy blest angels whose celestial faces
    Smile sometimes on us from the spirit lands.
    Send one, send one to me!

I must have help.    I am so weak and broken
    I cannot help myself.    I know not how
That moral force of which so much is spoken
    Will not sustain or fortify me now.
    I must, I must have help!

Some outside aid, some strength from spirit Sources,
    We all must have in hours like this, or die.
To one, or all of those mysterious Forces
    Which men call God, I lift my voice and cry,
    Come near, come near to me!

Ella Wheeler Wilcox

Ella Wheeler Wilcox was an American author and poet, born on November 5, 1850, and died on October 30, 1919. She was known for her works expressing optimistic views and moral lessons. Her most famous book was 'Poems of Passion'. Her poem 'Solitude' contains the famous lines, 'Laugh, and the world laughs with you; weep, and you weep alone'. Over her career, Wilcox became popularly known as a 'people's poet'.

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English

Suggested Poems

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

Deceitful Calm

The winds are still; the sea lies all untroubled
    Beneath a cloudless sky; the morn is bright,
Yet, Lord, I feel my need of Thee is doubled;
    Come nearer to me in this blaze of light;
The night must fall, -the storm will burst at length.
    Oh! give me strength.

So well, so well, I know the treacherous seeming
    Of days like this; they are too heavenly fair.
Those waves that laugh like happy children dreaming,
    Are mighty forces brewing some despair
For thoughtless hearts, and ere the hour of need,
    Let mine take heed.

Joy cannot last; it must give place to sorrow
    As certainly as solar systems roll.
I would not wait till that time comes to borrow
    The strength prayer offers to a suffering soul.
Here in the sunlight -yet undimm...

Ella Wheeler Wilcox

Listen

Whoever you are as you read this,
    Whatever your trouble or grief,
I want you to know and to heed this,
    The day draweth near with relief.

No sorrow, no woe, is unending;
    Though heaven seems voiceless and dumb,
Remember your cry is ascending,
    And an answer will certainly come.

Whatever temptation is near you,
    Whose eyes on this simple verse fall,
Remember good angels will hear you,
    And help you, so sure as you call.

Who stunned with despair, I beseech you,
    Whatever your losses, your need,
Believe when these printed words reach you -
    Believe you were born to succeed.

Ella Wheeler Wilcox

Let Me Lean Hard.

        Let me lean hard upon the Eternal Breast:
        In all earth's devious ways I sought for rest
        And found it not. I will be strong, said I,
        And lean upon myself. I will not cry
        And importune all heaven with my complaint.
        But now my strength fails, and I fall, I faint:
    Let me lean hard.

        Let me lean hard upon the unfailing Arm.
        I said I will walk on, I fear no harm,
        The spark divine within my soul will show
        The upward pathway where my feet should go.
        But now the heights to which I most aspire
        Are lost in clouds. I stumble and I tire:
    Let me lean hard.

        Let me lean harder yet. That swerveless force
        Which speeds the solar systems on their course

Ella Wheeler Wilcox

Lean Down.

Lean down and lift me higher, Josephine!
From the Eternal Hills hast thou not seen
How I do strive for heights? but lacking wings,
I cannot grasp at once those better things
To which I in my inmost soul aspire.
Lean down and lift me higher.

I grope along - not desolate or sad,
For youth and hope and health all keep me glad;
But too bright sunlight, sometimes, makes us blind,
And I do grope for heights I cannot find.
Oh, thou must know my one supreme desire -
Lean down and lift me higher.

Not long ago we trod the self-same way.
Thou knowest how, from day to fleeting day
Our souls were vexed with trifles, and our feet,
Were lured aside to by-paths which seemed sweet,
But only served to hinder and to tire;
Lean down and lift me higher.

Ella Wheeler Wilcox

Delilah.

        In the midnight of darkness and terror,
    When I would grope nearer to God,
        With my back to a record of error
    And the highway of sin I have trod,
        There come to me shapes I would banish -
    The shapes of the deeds I have done;
        And I pray and I plead till they vanish -
    All vanish and leave me, save one.

        That one with a smile like the splendor
    Of the sun in the middle-day skies -
        That one with a spell that is tender -
    That one with a dream in her eyes -
        Cometh close, in her rare Southern beauty,
    Her languor, her indolent grace;
        And my soul turns its back on its duty,
    To live in the light of her face.

        She touches my cheek, and I quiver -
    I tremb...

Ella Wheeler Wilcox

Plea To Science.

O Science reaching backward through the distance,
    Most earnest child of God,
Exposing all the secrets of existence,
    With thy divining rod,
I bid thee speed up to the heights supernal,
    Clear thinker, ne'er sufficed;
Go seek and bind the laws and truths eternal,
    But leave me Christ.

Upon the vanity of pious sages
    Let in the light of day.
Break down the superstitions of all ages -
    Thrust bigotry away;
Stride on, and bid all stubborn foes defiance
    Let Truth and Reason reign.
But I beseech thee, O Immortal Science,
    Let Christ remain.

What canst thou give to help me bear my crosses,
    In place of Him, my Lord?
And what to recompense for all my losses,
    And bring me sweet reward?
Thou couldst...

Ella Wheeler Wilcox