Father, I cry to thee for bread
With hungred longing, eager prayer;
Thou hear'st, and givest me instead
More hunger and a half-despair.
...
The stars are all watching;
God's angel is catching
At thy skirts in the darkness deep!
Gold hinges grating,
...
I have a fellowship with every shade
Of changing nature: with the tempest hour
My soul goes forth to claim her early dower
...
Is there a secret Joy, that may not weep,
For every flower that ends its little span,
For every child that groweth up to man,
...
1.
ALAS, my tent! see through it a whirlwind sweep!
Moaning, poor Fancy's doves are swept away.
I sit alone, a sorrow half asleep,
...
'Tis not the violent hands alone that bring
The curse, the ravage, and the downward doom,
Although to these full oft the yawning tomb
...
I.
Blue sky above, blue sea below,
Far off, the old Nile's mouth,
...
Great-hearted child, thy very being
The Son
,
Who know'st the hearts of all us prodigals;-
...
Still am I haunting
Thy door with my prayers;
Still they are panting
Up thy steep stairs!
...
Lord, according to thy words,
I have considered thy birds;
And I find their life good,
And better the better understood:
...