Poems (Hoffman)/The Answered Petition
THE ANSWERED PETITION
From the noonday cloud hung over the lone mount of CalvaryHark! a human voice that speaketh in its human miseryFrom a bursting heart that throbbeth in its mortal agony:"When thou cometh to thy kingdom, Lord, remember me."
Listen in soft notes of music upward floating to the skies,Where the sun his glorious splendor to a guilty world denies;Lo, a voice of matchless sweetness to the prayer of faith replies,Gently saying: "This day shalt thou be with me in Paradise."
O my soul's lone cross of torture! O my guilt and agony!Gazing upward through the darkness, lo, another cross I seeClose beside it in the shadow, this my spirit's only plea:"Jesus, Jesus, in thy kingdom, oh, remember me!"
And from that lone cross of anguish where for you and me He dies,While the sun his glorious splendor to a guilty world denies,In low tones of love and mercy lo, that holy voice repliesGently saying: "This day shalt thou be with me in Paradise."
For a thousand years of waiting in His sight are as a day,At whose word, eternal ages, all unmeasured glide away;While before His cross of crosses all our weight of care we layEvermore in faith believing with the dying thief to pray:
"Jesus, Jesus, I am trusting, trusting only thee;Jesus, Jesus, in Thy kingdom, oh remember me!"While in wondrous love and mercy still that holy voice replies,Gently saying: "This day shalt thou be with me in Paradise."