IF, when I kneel to pray, With eager lips I say: "Lord, give me all the things that I desire, -- Health, wealth, fame, friends, brave heart, religious fire, The power to sway my fellow-men at will, And strength for mighty works to banish ill," -- In such a prayer as this The blessing I must miss. Or if I only dare To raise this fainting prayer: "Thou seest, Lord, that I am poor and weak, And cannot tell what things I ought to seek; I therefore do not ask at all, but still I trust thy bounty all my wants to fill," -- My lips shall thus grow dumb, The blessing shall not come. But if I lowly fall, And thus in faith I call: "Through Christ, O Lord, I pray thee give to me Not what I would, but what seems best to thee Of life, of health, of service, and of strength, Until to thy full joy I come at length," -- My prayer shall then avail, The blessing shall not fail. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...THE BIRDS DO THUS by ROBERT FROST SELF-ANALYSIS by DAVID IGNATOW TO THE ROCK THAT WILL BE A CORNERSTONE OF THE HOUSE by ROBINSON JEFFERS GHOSTS OF THE OLD YEAR by JAMES WELDON JOHNSON THE STORM by KATHERINE MANSFIELD THE PLACE OF PEACE by EDWIN MARKHAM DOMESDAY BOOK: FINDING OF THE BODY by EDGAR LEE MASTERS |