Maryland, my Maryland, and other poems/Resurgam
RESURGAM
Teach me, my God, to bear my cross,
As thine was borne;
Teach me to make of every loss
A crown of thorn.
Give me Thy patience and Thy strength
With every breath,
Until my lingering days at length
Shall welcome death.
Dear Jesus, I believe that Thou
Did’st rise again,
Instill the spirit in me now
That conquers pain.
Give me the grace to cast aside
All vain desire,
All the fierce throbbing of a pride
That flames like fire.
Give me the calm that Dante wrought
From sensual din;
The peace that errant Woolsey sought
From stalwart sin.
I seek repose upon Thy breast
With child-like prayer;
Oh let me find the heavenly rest
And mercy there!
If I have, in rebellious ways,
Profaned my life;
If I have filled my daring days
With worldly strife;
If I have shunned the narrow path
In crime to fall—
Lead me from th’ abode of wrath
And pardon all!
Banished from Thee! where shall I find
For my poor soul
A safe retreat from storms that blind,
Or seas that roll?
Come to me, Christ, ere I, forlorn,
Sink ’neath the wave,
And on this blessed Easter morn
A lost one save!