O DOUBLY-BOWED and bruised reed, What can I offer in thy need? O heart, twice broken with its grief, What words of mine can bring relief? O soul, o'erwhelmed with woe again, How can I soothe thy bitter pain? Abashed and still, I stand and see Thy sorrow's awful majesty. Only dumb silence may convey That which my lip can never say. I cannot comfort thee at all; On the Great Comforter I call; Praying that He may make thee see How near He hath been drawn to thee. For unto man the angel guest Still comes through gates of suffering best; And most our Heavenly Father cares For whom He smites, not whom He spares. So, to his chastening meekly bow, Thou art of his beloved now! | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...A FLORIDA SUNDAY by SIDNEY LANIER FREDERICKSBURG by THOMAS BAILEY ALDRICH A BALLADE OF SUICIDE by GILBERT KEITH CHESTERTON ON THE ROAD by PAUL LAURENCE DUNBAR NEVER TOO LATE: THE PALMER'S ODE by ROBERT GREENE ON AN OLD MUFF by FREDERICK LOCKER-LAMPSON |