COMMUNION

by: Edward Dowden (1843-1913)

      ORD, I have knelt and tried to pray to-night,
      But Thy love came upon me like a sleep,
      And all desire died out; upon the deep
      Of Thy mere love I lay, each thought in light
      Dissolving like the sunset clouds, at rest
      Each tremulous wish, and my strength weakness, sweet
      As a sick boy with soon o’erwearied feet
      finds, yielding him unto his mother’s breast
      To weep for weakness there. I could not pray,
      But with closed eyes I felt Thy bosom’s love
      Beating toward mine, and then I would not move
      Till of itself the joy should pass away;
      At last my heart found voice,--‘Take me, O Lord,
      And do with me according to Thy word.’

"Communion" is reprinted from The Oxford Book of English Mystical Verse. Ed. Nicholson & Lee. Oxford: The Clarendon Press, 1917.

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