Poems (Denver)/Bread cast on the Waters
BREAD CAST ON THE WATERS.
A beggar stood in the sunshine. That lighted my cabin-door; I placed in his hands a pittance, 'Twas small, but I had no more. Years after, when want was round me, And sorrow had pressed me sore,There came from a far-off country, A rich and bounteous store. Then I thought of God's blessed promise, As I looked on the golden grain; For the bread I once cast on the waters Had returned to me again.
I, stood in the silent midnight, Beside the couch of pain; I calmed the troubled spirit, And I soothed the fevered brain. Years after, when grief and sickness A victim in me had found, Kind hearts bent over my pillow, And I knew there were angels around. Then I thought of God's holy promise, As I lay on that conch of pain,For the bread once cast on the waters Had returned to me again.
A tried heart quailed in the battle That raged on the shore of life;I whispered a word of comfort, And cheered it amid the strife: Years after, when grieved and wounded By the follies and frauds of earth, True spirits gathered around me, Gladdening my heart and hearth; And I thought of God's glorious promise, That it never is made in vain; For the bread once cast on the waters He returns to us again.
