WHAT but the love of God could have softened And made forgiving the people of Spoon River Toward me who wronged the bed of Thomas Merritt And murdered him beside? Oh, loving hearts that took me in again When I returned from fourteen years in prison! Oh, helping hands that in the church received me, And heard with tears my penitent confession, Who took the sacrament of bread and wine! Repent, ye living ones, and rest with Jesus. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...ABOVE AND WITHIN by DAVID IGNATOW AFTER THE RAIN by THOMAS BAILEY ALDRICH THE PINES AND THE SEA by CHRISTOPHER PEARSE CRANCH THE CHILDREN'S HOUR by HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW THE FEILIRE OF ADAMNAN by ADAMNAN ROSAMOND: KING HENRY'S SONG by JOSEPH ADDISON EPISTLES ON THE CHARACTER AND CONDITION OF WOMEN: 3 by LUCY AIKEN |