THE PRAYER
Measuring ribbons across a board,
Piling figures on rigid page,
Merging youth into bloodless age:
. . . Give us time for our dreams, O Lord!
Piling figures on rigid page,
Merging youth into bloodless age:
. . . Give us time for our dreams, O Lord!
Time for the mirroring rush on rush,
In waters greener than Chinese jade;
Time for a wing in a mottled glade
Of light and shadow and fragrant hush.
In waters greener than Chinese jade;
Time for a wing in a mottled glade
Of light and shadow and fragrant hush.
Time for a mountain, tall and blue,
Everlastings along the sward:
Give us leisure to dream, dear Lord,
Lest we pay no tithe of our lives to you.
Everlastings along the sward:
Give us leisure to dream, dear Lord,
Lest we pay no tithe of our lives to you.
Stitching, baking, and scrubbing floors,
Rocking a fretful babe to rest:
Lend us visions of gardens blest
Through the easy hinges of Fancy's doors.
Rocking a fretful babe to rest:
Lend us visions of gardens blest
Through the easy hinges of Fancy's doors.
Washing dishes and mending socks,
Bending over the ironing board:
. . . With spice and honeys of memory stored
May thought-ships come to their twilight docks
Bending over the ironing board:
. . . With spice and honeys of memory stored
May thought-ships come to their twilight docks
