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Classic and Contemporary Poetry
THE MASTER'S INVITATION, by ANSON DAVIES FITZ RANDOLPH First Line: Dear lord, thy table is outspread Last Line: If thou but follow me! | |||
DEAR Lord, thy table is outspread; What other could such feast afford? And thou art waiting at the head, But I am all unworthy, Lord; Yet do I hear thee say, -- (Was ever love so free?) Come hither, son, to-day And sit and sup with me. O master! I am full of doubt, My heart with sin and fear defiled; Come thou, and cast the tempter out, And make me as a little child; Methinks I hear thee say, -- Come thou, at once, and see What love can take away, And what confer on thee. My Lord! to thee I fain would go, Yet tarry now I know not why; Speak, if to tell what well I know, That none are half so vile as I. What do I hear thee say? -- Look, trembling one, and see These tokens, which to-day Tell what I did for thee. May, Lord! I could not here forget What thou didst for my ransom give; The garden prayer, the bloody sweat, All this and more, that I might live. I hear thee sadly say, -- If this remembered be, Why linger thus to-day? Why doubt and question me? Oh, love to angels all unknown! I turn from sin and self aside; Thou hast the idol self o'erthrown, I only see the Crucified; I only hear thee say, -- A feast is spread for thee On this and every day, If thou but follow me! | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...SONG OF THE WAVE by ROBERT FROST MARJORIE'S WOOING by EMMA LAZARUS THE EXPANDED COMPOSITION by CLARENCE MAJOR SUMMER MATURES by HELENE JOHNSON GRATIANA DANCING AND SINGING by RICHARD LOVELACE THE MARCH INTO VIRGINIA by HERMAN MELVILLE THE LAMENTATION OF DANAE by SIMONIDES OF CEOS REJECTED ADDRESSES: THE BABY'S DEBUT, BY W. W. by JAMES SMITH (1775-1839) |
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