"IF selfishly Thy heaven I seek, I seek Thy heaven in vain," -- I heard my heart within me speak: I hear it yet again. For heaven is all unselfishness: The souls whose home is there Have never dreamed of happiness They do not long to share. If selfishly Thy love I seek, I seek Thy love in vain. Place at Thy side need none bespeak Who shrink back from Thy pain. For love -- Thy love -- is sacrifice: Who seeketh still his own, Nor for his brethren lives and dies, Thyself hath never known. Dear Lord, each selfish thought we think Puts us afar from Thee: Into our own dark depths we sink, Where heaven can never be. Teach us to know Thee as Thou art; -- To give. as Thou hast given! Oh, show us how the loving heart May make this world a heaven! | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...REVELATION by EDMUND WILLIAM GOSSE SEVEN TIMES FOUR [ - MATERNITY] by JEAN INGELOW SPOON RIVER ANTHOLOGY: ELSA WERTMAN by EDGAR LEE MASTERS BRONZE TRUMPETS AND SEA WATER; ON TURNING LATIN VERSE INTO ENGLISH by ELINOR WYLIE WHEN THE SULTAN GOES TO ISPAHAN by THOMAS BAILEY ALDRICH DUNCAN WEIR by ALEXANDER ANDERSON |