Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, ELISHA RAISING THE SON OF THE SHUNAMMITE (SUGGESTED BY A PICTURE), by ANNIE MATHESON


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

ELISHA RAISING THE SON OF THE SHUNAMMITE (SUGGESTED BY A PICTURE), by                     Poet's Biography
First Line: O god, my god! He could do it
Last Line: Who knows? We may baulk the devil if we will not count the cost.
Subject(s): Love; Prayer


O GOD, my God! He could do it,
The prophet of long ago,
As he laid his face on the child's face
In passionate love and woe!
Prayer, was it?—Or touch, or yearning?—
A will that could fear no foe,
Not even the king of terrors?—
'Tis an awful thing to know.
Can it be that had we too wrestled in a prayer that willed and yearned,
To the hands and feet we were clasping, the soul we loved had returned?—

O child! Had I dared to do it
When my face was close to thine,
When my lips were warm upon thy lips
And cold was thy hand in mine;—
Had I called thee back without pity
And poured of my strength like wine
Into thy heart when it beat not,
And prayed for a force divine;
Had I clasped thy soul till it felt me and held thy hand till it thrilled,
The God who hears might have answered, I might have had what I willed.

Could I have done it?—Christ save us!
The prophet indeed might break
That quiet sleep with his praying
For one sad woman's sake:
But had the child been his own child,
He might have feared to take
The hand of God in his own hand
And will that his son might wake;—
He might have trembled at thinking 'My joy may become his doom:
I will not call him from heaven back to this narrow room.'

God keep the souls He has taken,
And veil their eyes with His hand,
That they may not grieve in our grieving
Or weep in the deathless land,
Where the speech of love is as music
That none can misunderstand!
But to us in the dust and discord
Grief comes with a new command;
To us it is left to wrestle for souls on earth that are lost;
Who knows? We may baulk the Devil if we will not count the cost.





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