MASTER, I do not ask that thou With milk and wine my table spread, So much, as for the will to plough And sow my fields, and earn my bread; Lest at thy coming I be found A useless cumberer of the ground. I do not ask that thou wilt bless With gifts of heavenly sort my day, So much, as that my hands may dress The borders of my lowly way With constant deeds of good and right, Thereby reflecting heavenly light. I do not ask that thou shouldst lift My feet to mountain-heights sublime, So much, as for the heavenly gift Of strength, with which myself may climb, Making the power thou madest mine For using, by that use, divine. I do not ask that there may flow Glory about me from the skies; The knowledge, that doth knowledge know; The wisdom that is not too wise To see in all things good and fair, Thy love attested, is my prayer. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...SPOON RIVER ANTHOLOGY: WILLIAM JONES by EDGAR LEE MASTERS GRANDFATHER'S LOVE by SARA TEASDALE THE OLD MAN DREAMS by OLIVER WENDELL HOLMES VERLAINE by EDWIN ARLINGTON ROBINSON THE ADIEU, TO A FRIEND LEAVING SUFFOLK by BERNARD BARTON ANYWHERE OUT OF THE WORLD by CHARLES BAUDELAIRE FIAMMETT: SONNET. OF FIAMMETTA SINGING by GIOVANNI BOCCACCIO |