 | Jones Very : The Complete Poems |  |
546
Motive
They came not from afar from lust of gain,Which lures adventurers to a distant shore;
Nor followed they some mighty conqueror's train,
Whose track through earth is red with human gore;
No common purpose did their souls inspire,
No earthly object did their vision fill;
God's Kingdom here to found their sole desire,
And, unmolested, here to do his will;
For this He called them from their native land,
For this He led them through the pathless sea,
For this upheld them by his mighty hand,
In sickness, death, and bitter poverty;
Causing e'en savage hearts to melt, and share
With them, in their distress, their scanty fare.
Poem No. 637; c. 1878–80
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