 | Wood-notes and Church-bells |  |
100
“GIVE ME A DRINK;”
OR, THE THIRSTY DOG'S PETITION.
Who could behold the motto on his neck
To the chance stranger silently appealing,
Or look into his countenance, and check
The loving action and the tender feeling?
To the chance stranger silently appealing,
Or look into his countenance, and check
The loving action and the tender feeling?
Furnished with such a passport kind and wise,
Friend after friend provides the noble creature
With water for his thirst, while from his eyes
Thanks overflow, and from each speaking feature.
Friend after friend provides the noble creature
With water for his thirst, while from his eyes
Thanks overflow, and from each speaking feature.
Ah, if we saw that touching prayer for drink
Plainly round other thirsty throats suspended,
Would our much-suffering flocks and cattle sink
Along the public ways all unbefriended?
Plainly round other thirsty throats suspended,
Would our much-suffering flocks and cattle sink
Along the public ways all unbefriended?
101
Hour after hour, in the hot dusty lane,
Would the dumb sheep or ox attract no pity?
And would their patient eyes appeal in vain
From iron railroad, or from stone-paved city?
Would the dumb sheep or ox attract no pity?
And would their patient eyes appeal in vain
From iron railroad, or from stone-paved city?
Thirst! There is One above who knows that pang:
“Give me to drink,” He said to Sychar's daughter;
And from His lips a sad “I thirst!” once rang
When He man's victim was, and had no water.
“Give me to drink,” He said to Sychar's daughter;
And from His lips a sad “I thirst!” once rang
When He man's victim was, and had no water.
Touched with the feeling of His creature's grief,
The mighty Maker listens to their groaning;
Shall we deny them water for relief,
And man alone be heedless of their moaning?
The mighty Maker listens to their groaning;
Shall we deny them water for relief,
And man alone be heedless of their moaning?
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