O Lord, when Thou didst call me, didst Thou know My heart disheartened thro' and thro', Still hankering after Egypt full in view Where cucumbers and melons grow? ''" Yea, I knew. ''" But, Lord, when Thou didst choose me, didst Thou know How marred I was and withered too, Nor rose for sweetness nor for virtue rue. Timid and rash, hasty and slow? ''" Yea, I knew. ''" My Lord, when Thou didst love me, didst Thou know How weak my efforts were, how few, Tepid to love and impotent to do. Envious to reap while slack to sow? ''" Yea, I knew. ''" Good Lord, Who knowest what I cannot know. And dare not know, my false, my true. My new, my old ; Good Lord, arise and do If loving Thou hast known me so. ''" Yea, I knew. ''" | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...TO A DEAD LOVER by LOUISE BOGAN HOPE (1) by GEORGIA DOUGLAS JOHNSON MATE (2) by GEORGIA DOUGLAS JOHNSON PRAYER AT SUNRISE by JAMES WELDON JOHNSON THE GHOST OF DEACON BROWN by JAMES WELDON JOHNSON STUDY FOR A GEOGRAPHICAL TRAIL; 4. NEW JERSEY by CLARENCE MAJOR |