When I pass from earth away, Palsied though I be and gray, May my spirit keep so young That my failing, faltering tongue Frames that prayer so dear to me Taught me at my mother's knee: 'Now I lay me down to sleep,' (Passing to Eternal rest On the loving parent breast) 'I pray the Lord my soul to keep;' (From all danger safe and calm In the hollow of His palm 'If I should die before I wake,' (Drifting with a bated breath Out of slumber into death,) 'I pray the Lord my soul to take.' (From the body's claim set free Sheltered in the Great to be.) Simple prayer of trust and truth Taught me in my early youth- Let my soul its beauty keep When I lay me down to sleep. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...THE BURIAL OF BOSTON CORBETT (ONE WARDEN TO ANOTHER) by EDGAR LEE MASTERS ANSWER TO A CHILD'S QUESTION by SAMUEL TAYLOR COLERIDGE CLEOMENS, OR THE SPARTAN HERO: SONG by JOHN DRYDEN DOWN THE MISSISSIPPI: 5. THE STEVEDORES by JOHN GOULD FLETCHER PEARLS OF THE FAITH: 84. DHU'L JADAL WA'L IKRAM by EDWIN ARNOLD PEARLS OF THE FAITH: 97. AL-WARITH by EDWIN ARNOLD |