Friday, January 5, 2018

Dreams and Deeds

Here is a poem about the continuing Christ. It is a prayer of hope.


DREAMS AND DEEDS
by John Hunter

Dear Master, in Whose life I see
All that I long and fail to be;
Let Thy clear light forever shine
To shame and guide this life of mine.

Though what I dream and what I do
In my poor days are always two,
Help me, oppressed by things undone,
O Thou, Whose dreams and deeds were one.


Source of this poem, which is in the public domain: Christ in Poetry (1952), an anthology compiled and edited by Thomas Curtis Clark and Hazel Davis Clark

Tuesday, December 12, 2017

My Gift: A Pair of Quotations

What can I give Him,
Poor as I am?
If I were a shepherd
I would bring a lamb,
If I were a wise man
I would do my part, --
Yet what I can I give Him,
Give my heart.

-- Christina G. Rossetti, 1872


"Give me thy heart," says the Saviour of men,
Calling in mercy again and again;
"Turn now from sin, and from evil depart,
Have I not died for thee? give me thy heart."

"Give me thy heart, give me thy heart,"
Hear the soft whisper, wherever thou art:
From this dark world He would draw thee apart;
Speaking so tenderly, "Give me thy heart."

-- Eliza E. Hewitt, 1926

Sunday, December 10, 2017

An untitled poem by Emily Dickinson on Sabbath keeping

On this day in 1830, American poet Emily Dickinson was born in Amherst, Massachusetts. Here is an untitled poem that she wrote about how she kept the Sabbath.


Some keep the Sabbath going to Church --
I keep it, staying at Home --
With a Bobolink for a Chorister --
And an Orchard, for a Dome --

Some keep the Sabbath in Surplice --
I just wear my Wings --
And instead of tolling the Bell, for Church,
Our little Sexton -- sings.

God preaches, a noted Clergyman --
And the sermon is never long,
So instead of getting to Heaven, at last --
I'm going, all along.


This poem is in the public domain.

Emily Dickinson (1830-1886)

Saturday, December 9, 2017

"The Charge of the Light Brigade" by Alfred, Lord Tennyson

On this day in 1854, according to the Associated Press, "Alfred, Lord Tennyson's famous poem, 'The Charge of the Light Brigade,' was published in England."

Read "The Charge of the Light Brigade" by Alfred, Lord Tennyson >>

Alfred Tennyson (1809-1892)
English poet;
poet laureate (1850-92)