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Classic and Contemporary Poetry


A LENTEN THOUGHT by JOHN BANISTER TABB

First Line: ALONE WITH THEE, WHO CANST NOT BE ALONE
Last Line: TILL DEATH BE DEAD.
Subject(s): LENT;

ALONE with Thee, who canst not be alone,
At midnight, in Thine everlasting day;
Lo, less than naught, of nothingness undone,
I, prayerless, pray!

Behold -- and with Thy bitterness make sweet,
What sweetest is in bitterness to hide --
Like Magdalen, I grovel at Thy feet,
In lowly pride.

Smite, till my wounds beneath Thy scourging cease;
Soothe, till my heart in agony hath bled;
Nor rest my soul with enmity at peace,
Till Death be dead.



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