POEMS.
57
To tend the poor, the sick and sad,
To soothe and make earth's sufferers glad,
To bless and comfort and sustain
The patient lives that know but pain.
O this is yours to do—and be
An angel in God's ministry!
To soothe and make earth's sufferers glad,
To bless and comfort and sustain
The patient lives that know but pain.
O this is yours to do—and be
An angel in God's ministry!
To listen kindly to complaint,
Hold up the steps of those who faint.
'Neath rugged step and tortuous aisle
Of hearts that sicken for a smile:
And with a woman's soft caress
Bestow on all your tenderness.
Hold up the steps of those who faint.
'Neath rugged step and tortuous aisle
Of hearts that sicken for a smile:
And with a woman's soft caress
Bestow on all your tenderness.
To nurse the children pale who come
From crowded street and city home,
With poor wan cheeks and hollow eyes
And agonizing moans and cries
To lay a cooling finger tip
On feverish brow and parched lip.
From crowded street and city home,
With poor wan cheeks and hollow eyes
And agonizing moans and cries
To lay a cooling finger tip
On feverish brow and parched lip.
To gather from the outside cold
The lambs that wander from the fold,
And with unerring instinct guide,
Once more those truants to the side
Of the Good Shepherd who doth speak
In gentlest accents to the weak.
The lambs that wander from the fold,
And with unerring instinct guide,
Once more those truants to the side
Of the Good Shepherd who doth speak
In gentlest accents to the weak.
The poet's and the artist's skill
Have their great mission to fulfil,
Have their great mission to fulfil,
