Poems (Clark)/An Answer

by Annie Maria Lawrence Clark

AN ANSWER

The night was curtained with darkness,—
 Fringed deeply with mist and rain,
And I, through the lingering moments,
 Lay clasped in the arms of pain,—
 Close clasped in the arms of pain.

I was tired, so tired, with counting
 The wearisome hours go by;
And prayers for release from anguish,
 Went up with a ceaseless cry,—
 The grief of a ceaseless cry.

At last, worn and sad with the conflict,
 I prayed just for strength to endure;
That I might not forget in my sorrow,
 That our Father's compassion is sure,—
 Always unfading and sure.

And then though my anguish still held me,
 O'er my soul crept a comforting peace;
Tender strength sustaining my weakness,
 Like a promise of future release,—
 From my pain a certain release.

Then Sleep, with her garland of poppies,
 Laid her soft hand over my eyes;
Sleeping, I woke with my pain all gone,
 To my thankful, glad surprise,—
 My unspeakably glad surprise.

And thinking it over this morning,
 As I lay in a peaceful calm,
This lesson crept close to my inmost soul,
 Sweet and true as the words of a psalm,—
 As the words of a holy psalm.

We live from the Lord, and our lives, to be true,
 Must be one with his inflowing love;
And, praying for health, we must first make our souls
 Fit temples for life from above,—
 For angelic life from above.

Not alone of ourselves, for our Father will help
 With the tenderest wisdom and care;
Uprooting the evil, implanting the good,
 Till our lives shall be one with our prayer,—
 Soul and life make one with our prayer.

"He forgiveth, He healeth," and surely we know
 That his promises ever endure;
'Tis only that we must be fit to receive,
 To have their fulfilment made sure,—
 Their rich, glad fulfilment made sure.