O DOUBLY-BOWED and bruised reed, What can I offer in thy need? O heart, twice broken with its grief, What words of mine can bring relief? O soul, o'erwhelmed with woe again, How can I soothe thy bitter pain? Abashed and still, I stand and see Thy sorrow's awful majesty. Only dumb silence may convey That which my lip can never say. I cannot comfort thee at all; On the Great Comforter I call; Praying that He may make thee see How near He hath been drawn to thee. For unto man the angel guest Still comes through gates of suffering best; And most our Heavenly Father cares For whom He smites, not whom He spares. So, to his chastening meekly bow, Thou art of his beloved now! | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...NOBODY'S LOOKIN' BUT DE OWL AND DE MOON (A NEGRO SERENADE) by JAMES WELDON JOHNSON COUNTRY SUMMER by LEONIE ADAMS ON A CARRIER WHO DIED OF DRUNKENNESS by GEORGE GORDON BYRON SONNET ON SITTING DOWN TO READ KING LEAR ONCE AGAIN by JOHN KEATS THE CASTLE OF CHILLON by LETITIA ELIZABETH LANDON THE FLIGHT OF TIME by J. K. BLAKE WIND OF SUMMER by KATHERINE HARRIS BRADLEY FOR THE DUE IMPROVEMENT OF A FUNERAL SOLEMNITY by JOHN BYROM |