Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, RESURGAM, by JAMES RYDER RANDALL


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

RESURGAM, by                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Teach me, my god, to bear my cross
Last Line: A lost one save!
Subject(s): Easter; God; Holidays; Prayer; The Resurrection


TEACH me, my God, to bear my cross,
As Thine was borne;
Teach me to make of every loss
A crown of thorn.
Give me Thy patience and Thy strength
With every breath,
Until my lingering days at length
Shall welcome death.

Dear Jesus, I believe that Thou
Didst rise again,
Instil the spirit in me now
That conquers pain.
Give me the grace to cast aside
All vain desire,
All the fierce throbbing of a pride
That flames like fire.

Give me the calm that Dante wrought
From sensual din;
The peace that errant Wolsey sought
From stalwart sin.
I seek repose upon Thy breast
With child-like prayer;
Oh let me find the heavenly rest
And mercy there!

If I have, in rebellious ways,
Profaned my life;
If I have filled my daring days
With worldly strife;
If I have shunned the narrow path
In crime to fall—
Lead me from th' abode of wrath
And pardon all!

Banished from Thee! where shall I find
For my poor soul
A safe retreat from storms that blind,
Or seas that roll?
Come to me, Christ, ere I, forlorn,
Sink 'neath the wave,
And on this blessèd Easter morn
A lost one save!




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