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The Hope of the World and other poems

by Charles Mackay
Mackay, Charles (1814-1889)

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[section]
  
[dedication]
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THE HOPE OF THE WORLD.
 I. 
CANTO I.
 II. 
CANTO II.
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NIENTE SENZA L'AMORE.
 I. 
PART I. THE PRAYER OF ADAM, ALONE IN PARADISE.
 II. 
PART II. THE DREAM OF THE SHIPWRECKED MARINER.
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SACRED MELODIES.
 I. 
I. “AND GOD SAID, LET THERE BE LIGHT!”
 II. 
II. WEEPING FOR THE DEAD.
 III. 
III. THE DOVE OF NOAH.
 IV. 
IV. REPENTANCE.
 V. 
V. RESIGNATION.
 VI. 
VI. MARINERS' PRAYER,
 VIII. 
VIII. SAUL AND DAVID.
 IX. 
IX. OUR SAVIOUR'S LAMENTATION OVER JERUSALEM.
 X. 
X. GOD IN THE STORM.
 XI. 
XI. THE INFINITUDE OF MERCY.
 XII. 
XII. THE BOW OF PROMISE.
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REVERIES.
  
TO THE WINDS.
  
THE SEA-SHORE.
  
THE NYMPH OF SOLITUDE.
  
THE WOOD-NYMPH.
  
TO AN EAGLE.
  
NIGHT.
  
THE LARK.
  
THE AUTUMN LEAF.
  
TO ROMANCE.
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SONGS FOR MUSIC.
  
SONG TO THE HARVEST MOON.
  
AMERICAN INDIANS AT THE GRAVES OF THEIR FATHERS.
  
THE ISLE OF TRUTH.
  
THE LAY OF AN EXILE.
  
FAR FROM HOME.
  
THIRTEEN AT TABLE; A VISION OF DEATH.
  
CONSTANCY.
  
THE EMIGRANTS' FAREWELL TO ENGLAND.
  
THE SCOTTISH EMIGRANTS' FAREWELL TO YARROW.
  
LOVE AMID SORROW.
  
THE WIDOWER TO THE EVENING STAR.
  
MOUNTAIN DEW.
  
SEA SORROW;
  
A SONG FOR A STORMY NIGHT.
  
THE TRUE GENTLEMAN.
  
THE GREENWOOD TREE.
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BALLADS.
  
THE WISHING-GATE.
  
THE MAIDEN OF RHINE.
  
THE COUNTRY GENTLEMAN ABROAD.
  
LORENZO.
  
THE TWO VULTURES.
  
THE PILGRIM'S DOG.
  
COUNT CASK-O'-WHISKEY AND HIS THREE HOUSES.

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86

XI. THE INFINITUDE OF MERCY.

Say not that any crime of man
Was e'er too great to be forgiven;—
Can we within our little span
Engrasp the viewless winds of heaven?
Shall we attempt with puny force
To lash back ocean with a rod,
Arrest the planets in their course,
Or weigh the mercies of a God?
Our mercies, like ourselves, may be
Small, finite, and ungracious ever,
May spurn a brother's bended knee,
But God's forsake the contrite never;
Vast as Himself they shine above,
To eyes that look through sorrow's tear;
Great though the crime, great is the love,
If those who seek it are sincere.
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