I have wasted nothing. O Lord, I have saved, Saved, put by in a goodly hoard. What of the prodigals? Judge them, Lord— Their wanton waste of Thy mercies poured Into the sewers! Profligates! Judge them, Lord, in Thy righteous wrath. I have saved, O Lord, I have scraped and saved, With my eyes downbent to my daily path; I have counted and carried, checked and stored, Nothing too worthless, nothing too small, Never a fragment thrown away— A gainful use I have found for all. But what is my store? Do they call this Death, This poignant insight? At last I see. I have wasted nothing, O Lord, but life, Time, and the talent Thou gavest me. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...OVERTONES by WILLIAM ALEXANDER PERCY THE PERSIANS (PERSAE): THE BATTLE OF SALAMIS by AESCHYLUS ON LYDIA DISTRACTED; A SONNET by PHILIP AYRES UNCLE AN' AUNT by WILLIAM BARNES LINES WRITTEN IMMEDIATELY AFTER PARTING FROM A LADY by SAMUEL EGERTON BRYDGES FRAGMENT WRITTEN SHORTLY AFTER THE MARRIAGE OF MISS CHAWORTH by GEORGE GORDON BYRON |