Poems (Jackson)/A Last Prayer

by Helen Hunt Jackson

A LAST PRAYER.

ATHER, I scarcely dare to pray,
 So clear I see, now it is done,
That I have wasted half my day,
 And left my work but just begun;

So clear I see that things I thought
 Were right or harmless were a sin;
So clear I see that I have sought,
 Unconscious, selfish aims to win;

So clear I see that I have hurt
 The souls I might have helped to save;
That I have slothful been, inert,
 Deaf to the calls thy leaders gave.

In outskirts of thy kingdoms vast,
 Father, the humblest spot give me;
Set me the lowliest task thou hast;
 Let me repentant work for thee!