Poetry Explorer

Classic and Contemporary Poetry

PRAISE AND PRAYER by ROBERT LOUIS STEVENSON

Poet Analysis

First Line: I HAVE BEEN WELL, I HAVE BEEN ILL
Last Line: O HELP ME WI' THE LAVE!
Subject(s): GOD; PRAYER; SELF-CRITICISM;
I HAVE been well, I have been ill,
I have been rich and poor;
I have set my back against the wall
And fought it by the hour;

I have been false, I have been true;
And thro' grief and mirth,
I have done all that man can do
To be a man of worth;

And now, when from an unknown shore,
I dare an unknown wave,
God, who has helped me heretofore,
O help me wi' the lave!



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