If I could shut the gate against my thoughts And keep out sorrow from this room within, Or memory could cancel all the notes Of my misdeeds, and I unthink my sin: How free, how clear, how clean my soul should lie, Discharged of such a loathsome company! Or were there other rooms without my heart That did not to my conscience join so near, Where I might lodge the thoughts of sin apart That I might not their clam'rous crying hear; What peace, what joy, what ease should I possess, Freed from their horrors that my soul oppress! But, O my Saviour, who my refuge art, Let thy dear mercies stand 'twixt them and me, And be the wall to separate my heart So that I may at length repose me free; That peace, and joy, and rest may be within, And I remain divided from my sin. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...CONTRA MORTEM: THE NOTHING I by HAYDEN CARRUTH THE BIRDS DO THUS by ROBERT FROST BEAUTY THAT IS NEVER OLD by JAMES WELDON JOHNSON THE GARDEN BY MOONLIGHT by AMY LOWELL THE SONG OF THE SHEPHERDS by EDWIN MARKHAM DOMESDAY BOOK: CHARLES WARREN, THE SHERIFF by EDGAR LEE MASTERS |