Child of distress, who meet'st the bitter scorn Of fellow men to happier prospects born, Doomed art and nature's various stores to see Flow in full cups of joy, -- and not for thee, Who seest the rich, to heaven and fate resign'd, Bear thy afflictions with a patient mind; Whose bursting heart disdains unjust controll, Who feel'st oppression's iron in thy soul, Who drag'st the load of faint and feeble years, Whose bread is anguish and whose water tears -- Bear, bear thy wrongs, fulfil thy destined hour, Bend thy meek neck beneath the foot of power! But when thou feel'st the great deliverer nigh, And thy freed spirit mounting seeks the sky, Let no vain fears thy parting hour molest, No whispered terrors shake thy quiet breast, Think not their threats can work thy future woe, Nor deem the Lord above, like Lords below. Safe in the bosom of that love repose By whom the sun gives light, the ocean flows, Prepare to meet a father undismayed, Nor fear the God whom priests and kings have made. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...AFFIRMATION by LOUIS UNTERMEYER LANDSCAPES (FOR CLEMENT R. WOOD) by LOUIS UNTERMEYER TO NIGHT by PERCY BYSSHE SHELLEY AMPHIPOLIS by ANTIPATER OF THESSALONICA THE LIFE-POWER by LOUISA SARAH BEVINGTON THE NAME by ANNA HEMPSTEAD BRANCH ECCLESIASTES by THOMAS EDWARD BROWN TO ---- ----. (1) by MARY BRYAN THE LAST CRUSADER by EDWARD GEORGE EARLE LYTTON BULWER-LYTTON |