Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, MERCY'S REPLY, by ANONYMOUS


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

MERCY'S REPLY, by                    
First Line: "the earth was made; yet still, though full of light"
Last Line: And with thy brother gently deal below
Subject(s): Creation


THE earth was made; yet still, though full of light
And life beneath the conquering breath of God
That rolled away the anarch of old Night,
There was no ruler for the teeming sod;
When to the glorious ministers that stand—
Justice, Truth, Mercy—by his throne
Eternally, he waved his awful hand,
And spoke, as God can speak alone,
"Shall we make man?" Then stern-eyed Justice cried,
"Oh, make him not, for he in his vain pride,
And base ingratitude to thee, the great First Cause,
Will trample evermore upon thy laws!"
When Truth—"Yes, make him not—his impious foot
Thy temple pure will evermore pollute!"
But Mercy, dropping on her knees,—her eyes
Suffused with pity and all full of tears
In that else tearless Paradise,—
Gazed up, and cried, amid her sterner peers,
"Make him, O God! I will watch o'er his head
In all the troublous paths that he may tread!"
Then God looked down upon the earth again,
And as man started up from Eden's plain,
He said (while Mercy, rising blessed and smiled)—
"Now, ruler of thy planet, go,
And with thy brother gently deal below!"




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