 | The poetical works of Lucy Larcom |  |
ABANDONED.
They look, and pass thee by,
Fallen, wounded, on the lower steps of life,
Not worth the lifting up, the leading in
Out of the deadly air, the crush, the strife;
Deemed all too foul with sin
For clean hands' touch, for clean feet to draw nigh.
Fallen, wounded, on the lower steps of life,
Not worth the lifting up, the leading in
Out of the deadly air, the crush, the strife;
Deemed all too foul with sin
For clean hands' touch, for clean feet to draw nigh.
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And yet thou art God's child,
My sister lost, and Christ's lost sister, too.
Is any clean like Him,—like Him, who gave
His heart's help unto such, in friendship true?
Ay, He alone could save,
Because He was the only Undefiled.
My sister lost, and Christ's lost sister, too.
Is any clean like Him,—like Him, who gave
His heart's help unto such, in friendship true?
Ay, He alone could save,
Because He was the only Undefiled.
Wide open is the door
Above life's lofty steps, and there stands He:
Nay, He descends, the purest of the pure;
Looks with thine eyes, appeals to us through thee;
Asks, “Are ye then my friends?
Whom I have loved, ‘abandoned’ name no more!”
Above life's lofty steps, and there stands He:
Nay, He descends, the purest of the pure;
Looks with thine eyes, appeals to us through thee;
Asks, “Are ye then my friends?
Whom I have loved, ‘abandoned’ name no more!”
Sister, Christ's little one,—
For such are all the weak, while the self-strong
Shut themselves out from His sweet help and heaven,—
Him hast thou hurt most deeply by thy wrong!
But, since He hath forgiven,
Thou mayest meet any eye; thy heaven is won!
For such are all the weak, while the self-strong
Shut themselves out from His sweet help and heaven,—
Him hast thou hurt most deeply by thy wrong!
But, since He hath forgiven,
Thou mayest meet any eye; thy heaven is won!
| The poetical works of Lucy Larcom | |