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Classic and Contemporary Poetry


THE GOOD SAMARITAN by JOHN HENRY NEWMAN

Poet Analysis

First Line: OH THAT THY CREED WERE SOUND
Last Line: WHEN COMES A FOE, MY WOUNDS WITH OIL AND WINE TO TEND.
Subject(s): CATHOLICS; GOOD SAMARITAN; TRAVEL; ROMAN CATHOLICS; CATHOLICISM; JOURNEYS; TRIPS;

Oh that thy creed were sound!
For thou dost soothe the heart, thou Church of Rome,
By thy unwearied watch and varied round
Of service, in thy Saviour's holy home.
I cannot walk the city's sultry streets,
But the wide porch invites to still retreats,
Where passion's thirst is calmed, and care's unthankful gloom.
There, on a foreign shore,
The homesick solitary finds a friend:
Thoughts, prisoned long for lack of speech, outpour
Their tears; and doubts in resignation end.
I almost fainted from the long delay
That tangles me within this languid bay,
When comes a foe, my wounds with oil and wine to tend.




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