Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, TO MARGARET, by CLYDE MCGEE


Poetry Explorer

Classic and Contemporary Poetry

TO MARGARET, by                    
First Line: These hands, worn thin by many years of toil
Last Line: Where you with him will hear my prayer.
Subject(s): Death; Graves; Heaven; Sisters; Sympathy; Dead, The; Tombs; Tombstones; Paradise; Empathy


These hands, worn thin by many years of toil,
No more give back the answering touch of life ...
They lie at rest.

Beautiful brown hair!
Let my fingers smooth it back again,
This one last time more ...

I wonder if you may not know that we are near,
Though now your eyes be heavy with Death's sleep!

How well you lived your years!
How full of victory your days!
And at the end peace ...

Toil, tears, disappointments, pain,
These were your portion more than most,
From earliest days of girlhood even to the end.
Most denied what most desire,
Yet possessing all things!

You drew from bitter cup its bitterness,
Turned life's tears to tenderness;
The hard and harsh things felt your alchemy
And gave you back patience and sympathy ...

So did you travel the common roads
In joy,
Giving your all
To God's employ;
Your work is finished,
The crown is won;
And now you hear
Your Lord's "Well done!"—

Dear, blessed sister,
I smooth back this lovely hair again,
This one last time more ...
And for your life, your faith,
Your pure, white soul,
I give God thanks ...

And something tells me you are there
Where you with Him will hear my prayer.





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