“now I lay,”—repeat it, darling.
“Lay me,” lisped the tiny lips
Of my daughter, kneeling, bending
O’er her folded finger-tips.
“Down to sleep”—“To sleep,” she murmured,
And the curly head bent low;
“I pray the Lord,” I gently added;...
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Prayer is the soul’s sincere desire,
Uttered or unexpressed—
The motion of a hidden fire
That trembles in the breast.
Prayer is the burthen of a sigh,
The falling of a tear—
The upward glancing of an eye,
When none but God is near...
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WHEN is the time for prayer?
With the first beams that light the morning’s sky,
Ere for the toils of day thou dost prepare,
Lift up thy thoughts on high;
Commend the loved ones to his watchful care:
Morn is the time for prayer!
...
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To prayer, to prayer;—for the morning breaks,
And earth in her Maker’s smile awakes.
His light is on all below and above,—
The light of gladness, and life, and love.
Oh, then, on the breath of this early air
Send upward the incense of grateful prayer....
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Not on a prayerless bed, not on a prayerless bed
Compose thy weary limbs to rest;
For they alone are blessed
With balmy sleep
Whom angels keep;
Nor, though by care oppressed,
Or anxious sorrow,
...
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From “Hamlet,” Act III. Sc. 3.
The King. O, my offence is rank, it smells to heaven;
It hath the primal eldest curse upon ’t,
A brother’s murder. Pray can I not,
Though inclination be as sharp as will:
My stronger guilt defeats my strong intent;
...
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Anonymous translation
O GOD! though sorrow be my fate,
And the world’s hate
For my heart’s faith pursue me,
My peace they cannot take away;
From day to day
Thou dost anew imbue me;
Thou art not far; a little while
Thou hid’st...
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O God, I cannot walk the Way,—
The thorns, the thirst, the darkness,
And bleeding feet and aching heart!
I hear the songs and revels of the throng,—
They sneer upon my downcast face with scorn,—
Yet, O my God, I must and shall walk with Thee!
O...
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Translated by Henry Francis Cary
Selections from “The Divine Comedy”
Purgatory: Canto VI.
WHEN I was freed
From all those spirits, who prayed for others’ prayers
To hasten on their state of blessedness;
Straight I began: “O...
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Translated by Henry Francis Cary
Selections from “The Divine Comedy”
Purgatory: Canto XI.
“O THOU Almighty Father! who dost make
The heavens thy dwelling, not in bounds confined,
But that, with love intenser, there thou view’st
Thy primal effluence;...
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