Bliss Carman, et al., eds. The World’s Best Poetry. 1904.
II. Prayer and AspirationPrayer and Answer
Oliver Huckel (18641940)O G
The thorns, the thirst, the darkness,
And bleeding feet and aching heart!
I hear the songs and revels of the throng,—
They sneer upon my downcast face with scorn,—
Yet, O my God, I must and shall walk with Thee!
Far easier honeyed hopes and falsehoods fair,
But Truth,—the Truth is stern and strong and awful.
It ploughs my soul with ploughshares flaming hot,—
Yet give me Truth. I must have Truth, O God!
The flinging all to death that life may come;
The surging of Thy Spirit in my heart
In fire and flame will all consume me,—
Yet, O my God, I cannot live without Thee!
With tears and sighs in all the bitter prayer,
I felt, as ’t were, an arm that stole around me,
And raised me to my feet.
And at the touch, hope blossomed in my heart,
And new-found strength in flood-tides thrilled and throbbed
O tender lordly Face!
It was Himself,—the Way, the Truth, the Life!