POETRY.
OF PRAYER.
Two things do I desire to know, and to declare
Virtue its own reward, and its own answer prayer.
This canon I have found all-comforting and staying To pray for only that which will be had for praying.
Is Prayer an Art /—Ah, well! If there be much of Art, The Means will mar the End, the Head will drain the Head.
Is Prayer a Science 1—Nay! It is Omniscience, In a conjunctive mood, and in a perfect tense.
But, to be fully breathed, and to be fully heard, Prayer will in silence start, and end without a word.
Prayer set to words is dumb, without is eloquent ; The Prayer within the Prayer is the best argument.
Words are but weeds of Prayer, wherein its form to drape; The wordless Prayer reveals the true, the native shape.
Pray without ceasing, every moment, everywhere, And know the power, the peace, the poise, of constant Prayer.
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