Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, THE SUPPLICANT, by ROSELLE MERCIER MONTGOMERY


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

THE SUPPLICANT, by                     Poet's Biography
First Line: I go down on my knees and pray each night
Last Line: But my heart prays that he will never hear!
Subject(s): Prayer


I GO down on my knees and pray each night
That I shall never see your face again ...
Nor hear your voice, ... that you will never write ...
That none will name your name to me—and then
I pray to lose the curse of memory ...
That full forgetfulness will make me free!

But I wake—eager for the coming light,
And whisper to my heart: "Another day!
It may be he will come ... or he may write ...
Or I may see him in the street ... he may
Pass by me in the crowd and I may hear
His voice—as in the throng he passes near!"

And I invent small trickeries to make
Those who surround me name your name to me—
Only to hear it somehow soothes the ache
Of longing that burns on—unceasingly!
Your name falls on my heart like a caress—
Which they who speak it do not know or guess!

But—all the day is one long ache for you!
Again at night I kneel and make my prayer—
That you may be as one I never knew. ...
My lips beseech God not to let me care. ...
With supplications they assail His ear—
But my heart prays that He will never hear!





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