Poems with Power to Strengthen the Soul

English poetry

Let but my fainting heart be blest
    With thy sweet Spirit for its guest;
    My God! to thee I leave the rest:
          "Thy will be done!"

    Renew my will from day to day!
    Blend it with thine; and take away
    All that now makes it hard to say,
          "Thy will be done!"

    Then, when on earth I breathe no more
    The prayer oft mixed with tears before,
    I'll sing upon a happier shore:
          "Thy will be done!"

    --Charlotte Elliott.


THE TWO ANGELS

    All is of God! If he but wave his hand,
      The mists collect, the rain falls thick and loud,
    Till, with a smile of light on sea and land,
      Lo! he looks back from the departing cloud.

    Angels of Life and Death alike are his;
      Without his leave they pass no threshold o'er;
    Who, then, would wish or dare, believing this,
      Against his messengers to shut the door?

    --Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.


AMEN!

          I cannot say,
    Beneath the pressure of life's cares to-day,
          I joy in these;
          But I can say
    That I had rather walk this rugged way,
          If _Him_ it please.

          I cannot feel
    That all is well when darkening clouds conceal
          The shining sun;
          But then I know
    God lives and loves, and say, since it is so,
          _Thy will be done_.

          I cannot speak
    In happy tones; the tear-drops on my cheek
          Show I am sad:
          But I can speak
    Of _grace_ to suffer with submission meek
          Until made glad.

          I do not see
    Why God should e'en permit some things to be,
          When _He is love_;
          But I can see,
    Though often dimly, through the mystery
          His hand above!

          I do not know
    Where falls the seed that I have tried to sow
          With greatest care;
          But I _shall know_
    The meaning of each waiting hour below
          _Sometime, somewhere_!

          I do not look
    Upon the present, nor in Nature's book,
          To read my fate;
          But I _do look_
    For _promised blessings_ in God's holy Book;
          And _I can wait_.

          I may not try
    To keep the hot tears back--but hush that sigh,
          "It might have been";
          And try to still
    Each rising murmur, and to _God's sweet will_
          Respond "_Amen!_"

    --Miss Ophelia G. Browning.


AS HE WILLS

    He sendeth sun, he sendeth shower,
    Alike they're needful for the flower;
    And joys and tears alike are sent
    To give the soul fit nourishment.
    As comes to me or cloud or sun,
    Father! thy will, not mine, be done.

    Can loving children e'er reprove,
    With murmurs, whom they trust and love?
    Creator! I would ever be
    A trusting, loving child to thee:
    As comes to me or cloud or sun,
    Father! thy will, not mine, be done.

Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.

Opening the text

Religion

Poems with Power to Strengthen the Soul

English poetry

Let but my fainting heart be blest
    With thy sweet Spirit for its guest;
    My God! to thee I leave the rest:
          "Thy will be done!"

    Renew my will from day to day!
    Blend it with thine; and take away
    All that now makes it hard to say,
          "Thy will be done!"

    Then, when on earth I breathe no more
    The prayer oft mixed with tears before,
    I'll sing upon a happier shore:
          "Thy will be done!"

    --Charlotte Elliott.


THE TWO ANGELS

    All is of God! If he but wave his hand,
      The mists collect, the rain falls thick and loud,
    Till, with a smile of light on sea and land,
      Lo! he looks back from the departing cloud.

    Angels of Life and Death alike are his;
      Without his leave they pass no threshold o'er;
    Who, then, would wish or dare, believing this,
      Against his messengers to shut the door?

    --Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.


AMEN!

          I cannot say,
    Beneath the pressure of life's cares to-day,
          I joy in these;
          But I can say
    That I had rather walk this rugged way,
          If _Him_ it please.

          I cannot feel
    That all is well when darkening clouds conceal
          The shining sun;
          But then I know
    God lives and loves, and say, since it is so,
          _Thy will be done_.

          I cannot speak
    In happy tones; the tear-drops on my cheek
          Show I am sad:
          But I can speak
    Of _grace_ to suffer with submission meek
          Until made glad.

          I do not see
    Why God should e'en permit some things to be,
          When _He is love_;
          But I can see,
    Though often dimly, through the mystery
          His hand above!

          I do not know
    Where falls the seed that I have tried to sow
          With greatest care;
          But I _shall know_
    The meaning of each waiting hour below
          _Sometime, somewhere_!

          I do not look
    Upon the present, nor in Nature's book,
          To read my fate;
          But I _do look_
    For _promised blessings_ in God's holy Book;
          And _I can wait_.

          I may not try
    To keep the hot tears back--but hush that sigh,
          "It might have been";
          And try to still
    Each rising murmur, and to _God's sweet will_
          Respond "_Amen!_"

    --Miss Ophelia G. Browning.


AS HE WILLS

    He sendeth sun, he sendeth shower,
    Alike they're needful for the flower;
    And joys and tears alike are sent
    To give the soul fit nourishment.
    As comes to me or cloud or sun,
    Father! thy will, not mine, be done.

    Can loving children e'er reprove,
    With murmurs, whom they trust and love?
    Creator! I would ever be
    A trusting, loving child to thee:
    As comes to me or cloud or sun,
    Father! thy will, not mine, be done.

Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.

Poems with Power to Strengthen the Soul

Poems with Power to Strengthen the Soul

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