University of Virginia Library


191

[XXI. O Father, God! to whom, in happier days]

O Father, God! to whom, in happier days,
My father bade me cry when troubles fall,
Again I come before thy tribunal,
Too faint for prayer, and all too blind for praise;
Yet owning never, through life's dim career,
The eye that would not see, and reckless ear;
Against my head no more thy tempests call!—
Refreshing that wild sorrow of the heart,
And those fierce tears: another morning raise
Upon this vision, now so dimmed and swoln:
Guide me, as once, unto thy feet to flee;
Claiming no price of labour, place, or part;
And only seek, before thy footstool fall'n,
Tears in mine eyes, to lift these hands of me!