Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, PRESENT DAY SONNETS: THE ALTAR-RAIL, by PERCY STICKNEY GRANT


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

PRESENT DAY SONNETS: THE ALTAR-RAIL, by                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Their hands they hold across the altar-rail
Last Line: A human clasp moved by a heavenly will.
Subject(s): Jesus Christ; Worship


Their hands they hold across the altar-rail,
From various need reached toward a common hope.
In scraps of prayer and errant thought they grope
A solace for their souls that will not fail.
O piteous hands! Poor, puny hands! too frail,
Were you outstretched by emperor or pope,
To grasp the titan world, with sin to cope, --
Gnarled, jeweled, soiled, thin, palsied, pale.
God fill these hands, of you they ask an alms.
The world has given, but the hands still plead;
The world has taken, you alone can fill.
O love divine, heap with hid gifts these palms.
O Christ's sweet love, supply each bowed soul's need, --
A human clasp moved by a heavenly will.





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