Three from Morrison II

Poems from Masterpieces of Religious Verse.

The Things of the Spirit

Thank God for life!
There! A meadowlark sings! Do you hear it?
For the sigh of the heart,
The contagion of laughter,
For the longing apart,
For the joy that comes after,
For the things that we feel
When we clasp, when we kneel—
Thank God for the sharing,
The caring, the giving,
For the things of Life's living.

Thank God for the riches
Of flowers in the ditches,
For the roof from the weather,
The fireside together,
For the step at the portal,
For the love we have treasured,
For something unmeasured,
For something immortal,
For our grief, for our mirth,
For heavens on earth,
For the things of the spirit!

There! A meadowlark sings! Do you hear it?

Douglas Malloch (1877-1938)

I Thank Thee, Lord, for Strength of Arm

I thank Thee, Lord, for strength of arm
To win my bread,
And that, beyond my need, is meat
For friend unfed:
I thank Thee much for bread to live,
I thank Thee more for bread to give.

I thank Thee for my quiet home,
'Mid cold and storm,
And that, beyond my need, is room
For friend forlorn:
I thank Thee much for place to rest,
But more for shelter for my guest.

I thank Thee, Lord, for lavish love
On me bestowed,
Enough to share with loveless folk
To ease their load:
Thy love to me I ill could spare,
Yet dearer is Thy love I share.

Robert Davis (b. 1881)

God, You Have Been Too Good to Me

God, You have been too good to me,
You don't know what You've done.
A clod's too small to drink in all
The treasure of the sun.

The pitcher fills the lifted cup
And still the blessings pour:
They overbrim the shallow rim
With cool refreshing store.

You are too prodigal with joy,
Too careless of its worth,
To let the stream with crystal gleam
Fall wasted on the earth.

Let many thirsty lips draw near
And quaff the greater part!
There still will be too much for me
To hold in one glad heart.

Charles Wharton Stork (b. 1881)

Masterpieces of Religious Verse (1948), ed. James Dalton Morrison, ## 369, 370, 380.

Lane Core Jr. CIW P — Sun. 11/30/03 02:23:07 PM
Categorized as Sunday Poetry Series.