If Jesus should tramp the streets tonight, Storm-beaten and hungry for bread, Seeking a room and a candle light And a clean though humble bed, Who would welcome the Workman in, Though he came with panting breath, His hands all bruised and his garments thin— This Workman from Nazareth? Would rich folk hurry to bind his bruise And shelter his stricken form? Would they take God in with his muddy shoes Out of the pitiless storm? Are they not too busy wreathing their flowers Or heaping their golden store— Too busy chasing the bubble hours For the poor man's God at the door? And if he should come where churchmen bow, Forgetting the greater sin, Would he pause with a light on his wounded brow, Would he turn and enter in? And what would he think of their creeds so dim, Of their weak, uplifted hands, Of their selfish prayers going up to him Out of a thousand lands? | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...JESUS - THE SWEETEST NAME by BERNARD OF CLAIRVAUX BALLAD: THE THINGS OF NO ACCOUNT by FRANCOIS VILLON THE BURIAL OF SIR JOHN MOORE AT [OR AFTER] CORUNNA by CHARLES WOLFE TO AN ISLE IN THE WATER by WILLIAM BUTLER YEATS THE WATER CROWVOOT by WILLIAM BARNES BLESS, DEAR SAVIOUR, THIS CHILD by THOMAS BECK THE LAST MAN: RECOLLECTION OF EARLY LIFE by THOMAS LOVELL BEDDOES |