Page:Poems Blake.djvu/150

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142
AN ANSWER!
  For upsetting waking and sleeping;
  For mixing up smiling with weeping;
  And yet with such total surrender
  Of our hearts to his whims and his splendor,
That we kiss the small rod while it schools us,
And love the wee tyrant who rules us:
Helpless and weak, to be cherished and prayed for,—
Perhaps this may be what the Baby is made for!

"What is the Baby made for?" Dear,
Sometimes I think as a lesson solely
To us who are helpless as Baby here,
And worthless and poor, that God loves us wholly.
  See! we have naught to commend us
  Save what His mercy doth lend us;
  Powerless, weak, and forsaken,
  Until His love doth awaken!
  Safely His arms do enfold us,
  Like unto babes He doth hold us;
  Sheltered, beloved, and protected,
  Pleasantly led and directed,—
  To show that our feeble endeavor
  Is helped by His goodness forever,
With tenderness deeper than ever we prayed for,
Perhaps this may be what the Baby is made for!