FATHER! -- to God himself we cannot give A holier name! then lightly do not bear Both names conjoined, but of thy spiritual care Be duly mindful: still more sensitive Do Thou, in truth a second Mother, strive Against disheartening custom, that by Thee Watched, and with love and pious industry Tended at need, the adopted Plant may thrive For everlasting bloom. Benign and pure This Ordinance, whether, loss it would supply, Prevent omission, help deficiency, Or seek to make assurance doubly sure. Shame if the consecrated Vow be found An idle form, the Word an empty sound! | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...HOMAGE TO SEXTUS PROPERTIUS: 3 by EZRA POUND ODE TO FEAR by WILLIAM COLLINS (1721-1759) MAIDENHOOD by HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW LYNCHED NEGRO by MAXWELL BODENHEIM FIVE LITTLE WANDERINGS: 3. YOUTH by BERTON BRALEY TO THE SAME (JOHN LAPRAIK) by ROBERT BURNS FOURTH BOOK OF AIRS: SONG 14 by THOMAS CAMPION |