Poetry Explorer

Classic and Contemporary Poetry

THE NAMES OF OUR LADY by ADELAIDE ANNE PROCTER

First Line: THROUGH THE WIDE WORLD THY CHILDREN RAISE
Last Line: THE FIRST WE BREATHE IN HEAVEN.
Subject(s): MARY AND MARTHA (BIBLE); NAMES; PRAYER; RELIGION; WOMEN; WOMEN IN THE BIBLE; THEOLOGY;
THROUGH the wide world thy children raise
Their prayers, and still we see
Calm are the nights and bright the days
Of those who trust in thee.

Around thy starry crown are wreathed
So many names divine:
Which is the dearest to my heart,
And the most worthy thine?

@3Star of the Sea:@1 we kneel and pray
When tempests raise their voice;
Star of the Sea! the haven reached,
We call thee and rejoice.

@3Help of the Christian:@1 in our need
Thy mighty aid we claim;
If we are faint and weary, then
We trust in that dear name.

@3Our Lady of the Rosary:@1
What name can be so sweet
As what we call thee when we place
Our chaplets at thy feet.

@3Bright Queen of Heaven:@1 when we are sad,
Best solace of our pains; --
It tells us, though on earth we toil,
Our Mother lives and reigns.

@3Our Lady of Mount Carmel:@1 thus
Sometimes thy name is known;
It tells us of the badge we wear,
To live and die thine own.

@3Our Lady dear of Victories:@1
We see our faith oppressed,
And, praying for our erring land,
We love that name the best.

@3Refuge of Sinners:@1 many a soul,
By guilt cast down, and sin,
Has learned through this dear name of thine
Pardon and peace to win.

@3Health of the Sick:@1 when anxious hearts
Watch by the sufferer's bed,
On this sweet name of thine they lean,
Consoled and comforted.

@3Mother of Sorrows:@1 many a heart
Half broken by despair
Has laid its burden by the cross
And found a mother there.

@3Queen of all Saints:@1 the Church appeals
For her loved dead to thee;
She knows they wait in patient pain
A bright eternity.

@3Fair Queen of Virgins:@1 thy pure band,
The lilies round thy throne,
Love the dear title which they bear
Most that it is thine own.

@3True Queen of Martyrs:@1 if we shrink
From want, or pain, or woe,
We think of the sharp sword that pierced
Thy heart, and call thee so.

@3Mary:@1 the dearest name of all,
The holiest and the best;
The first low word that Jesus lisped
Laid on His mother's breast.

@3Mary@1, the name that Gabriel spoke,
The name that conquers hell:
@3Mary@1, the name that through high heaven
The angels love so well.

@3Mary@1, -- our comfort and our hope, --
O may that word be given
To be the last we sigh on earth, --
The first we breathe in heaven.



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