| Edmund Clarence Stedman, ed. (1833–1908). A Victorian Anthology, 1837–1895. 1895. |
| |
| Prayer |
| | | Hartley Coleridge (1796–1849) |
| |
| |
| BE not afraid to pray—to pray is right. | |
| Pray, if thou canst, with hope; but ever pray, | |
| Though hope be weak, or sick with long delay; | |
| Pray in the darkness, if there be no light. | |
| Far is the time, remote from human sight, | 5 |
| When war and discord on the earth shall cease; | |
| Yet every prayer for universal peace | |
| Avails the blessed time to expedite. | |
| Whate’er is good to wish, ask that of Heaven, | |
| Though it be what thou canst not hope to see: | 10 |
| Pray to be perfect, though material leaven | |
| Forbid the spirit so on earth to be; | |
| But if for any wish thou darest not pray, | |
| Then pray to God to cast that wish away. | |
| |
|
|
|
