Ember-Prayers.

LET out thy soul, and pray!
  Not for thy home alone;
Away in prayer, away!
  Make all the world thine own.
Let out thy soul in prayer;
  Oh, let thy spirit grow!
GOD gives thee sun and air,
  Let the full blossom blow!

II.

There! dost thou not perceive
  Thy spirit swell within,
And something high receive,
  That is not born of sin?
Oh, paltry is the soul
  That only self can heed!
Sail outward--from the shoal,
  And bourgeon, from the seed!

III.

Rust and the moth consume
  The spangled folds of pride;
Dry-rot doth eat the bloom,
  And gnaw the wealth we hide:
The spirit's selfish care
  Doth die away the same;
But give it air--free air,
  And how the soul can flame!

IV.

Yestreen I did not know
  How largely I could live;
But Faith hath made me grow
  To more than Earth can give.
Joy! for a heart released
  From littleness and pride;
Fast is the spirit's feast,
  And Lent the soul's high tide.

V.

When for the Church I prayed,
  As this dear Lent began,
My thoughts, I'm sore afraid,
  Within small limits ran.
By Ember-week I learned
  How large that prayer might be,
And then, in soul, I burned
  That all might pray with me.

VI.

Plead for the victims all
  Of heresy and sect;
And bow thy knees like Paul,
  For all the LORD'S Elect!
Pray for the Church--I mean,
  For Shem and Japheth pray:
And Churches, long unseen,
  In isles, and far away!

VII.

Oh pray that all who err
  May thus be gathered in,
The Moslem worshipper,
  And all the sects of sin!
For all who love in heart,
  But have not found the way,
Pray--and thy tears will start!
  'Twas so the LORD did pray.

VIII.

Now--even for heartless Rome
  Appealing to the LORD,
Be every Church our home,
  And love the battle-word!
The saints' communion--one,
  One Lord--one Faith--one birth,
Oh, pray to GOD the Son,
  For all His Church on Earth.

Project Canterbury