Nicholson & Lee, eds. The Oxford Book of English Mystical Verse. 1917.
Sarojini Naidu (18791949)377. The Souls Prayer
I
‘O Thou, who mad’st me of Thy breath,
Speak, Master, and reveal to me
Thine inmost laws of life and death.
Which Thine eternal hand can mete,
For my insatiate soul would drain
Earth’s utmost bitter, utmost sweet.
Withhold no gift or grief I crave,
The intricate lore of love and life
And mystic knowledge of the grave.’
‘Child, I will hearken to thy prayer,
And thy unconquered soul shall know
All passionate rapture and despair.
And love shall burn thee like a fire,
And pain shall cleanse thee like a flame,
To purge the dross from thy desire.
To seek from its blind prayer release,
And spent and pardoned, sue to learn
The simple secret of My peace.
Will teach thee of My quickening grace,
Life is a prism of My light,
And Death the shadow of My face.’