Supplication

For He knoweth our frame, He remembereth that we are dust. - PSALM CIII. 14.


    Oh Lord, when all our bones are thrust
        Beyond the gaze of all but Thine;
    And these blaspheming tongues are dust
        Which babbled of Thy name divine,
    How helpless then to carp or rail
        Against the canons of Thy word;
    Wilt Thou, when thus our spirits fail,
    Have mercy, Lord?

    Here from this ebon speck that floats
        As but a mote within Thine eye,
    Vain sneers and curses from our throats
        Rise to the vault of Thy fair sky:
    Yet when this world of ours is still
        Of this all-wondering, tortured horde,
    And none is left for Thee to kill -
    Have mercy, Lord!

    Thou knowest that our flesh is grass;
        Ah! let our withered souls remain
    Like stricken reeds of some morass,
        Bleached, in Thy will, by ceaseless rain.
    Have we not had enough of fire,
        Enough of torment and the sword? -
    If these accrue from Thy desire -
    Have mercy, Lord!

    Dost Thou not see about our feet
        The tangles of our erring thought?
    Thou knowest that we run to greet
        High hopes that vanish into naught.
    We bleed, we fall, we rise again;
        How can we be of Thee abhorred?
    We are Thy breed, we little men -
    Have mercy, Lord!

    Wilt Thou then slay for that we slay,
        Wilt Thou deny when we deny?
    A thousand years are but a day,
        A little day within Thine eye:
    We thirst for love, we yearn for life;
        We lust, wilt Thou the lust record?
    We, beaten, fall upon the knife -
    Have mercy, Lord!

    Thou givest us youth that turns to age;
        And strength that leaves us while we seek.
    Thou pourest the fire of sacred rage
        In costly vessels all too weak.
    Great works we planned in hopes that Thou
        Fit wisdom therefor wouldst accord;
    Thou wrotest failure on our brow -
    Have mercy, Lord!

    Could we but know, as Thou dost know -
        Hold the whole scheme at once in mind!
    Yet, dost Thou watch our anxious woe
        Who piece with palsied hands and blind
    The fragments of our little plan,
        To thrive and earn Thy blest reward,
    And make and keep the world of man -
    Have mercy, Lord!

    Thou settest the sun within his place
        To light the world, the world is Thine,
    Put in our hands and through Thy grace
        To be subdued and made divine.
    Whether we serve Thee ill or well,
        Thou knowest our frame, nor canst afford
    To leave Thy own for long in hell -
    Have mercy, Lord!