Page:Poems Kimball.djvu/164

From Wikisource
Jump to navigation Jump to search
This page has been proofread, but needs to be validated.
THE DIVINE LOVE.
O PATIENT God, whom men forsake,
All-kind, all-gracious as Thou art,
How soon our faithlessness would break
   A human heart!

How vast must be the Love so strong,
Its yearning, oh, how fathomless,
That sin prolonged should yet prolong
   Thy tenderness!

Though we may slight that Love with doubt,
Thy paths of sweet commandment spurn,
Thou wilt in no wise cast him out
   Who would return!

The uttermost Thy Love doth reach
And oh the pathos of its cry
All humbled to our human speech,—
   "Why will ye die?"

Were not Thy wide compassion more
Than even all the powers of sin
These feet would never find Thy Door,
   And enter in.

146