| Edmund Clarence Stedman, ed. (1833–1908). An American Anthology, 1787–1900. 1900. |
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| 140. Exhortation to Prayer |
| | | By Margaret Mercer |
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| NOT on a prayerless bed, not on a prayerless bed | |
| Compose thy weary limbs to rest; | |
| For they alone are blest | |
| With balmy sleep | |
| Whom angels keep; | 5 |
| Nor, though by care opprest, | |
| Or anxious sorrow, | |
| Or thought in many a coil perplexed | |
| For coming morrow, | |
| Lay not thy head | 10 |
| On prayerless bed. | |
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| For who can tell, when sleep thine eyes shall close, | |
| That earthly cares and woes | |
| To thee may e’er return? | |
| Arouse, my soul! | 15 |
| Slumber control, | |
| And let thy lamp burn brightly; | |
| So shall thine eyes discern | |
| Things pure and sightly; | |
| Taught by the Spirit, learn | 20 |
| Never on prayerless bed | |
| To lay thine unblest head. | |
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| Hast thou no pining want, or wish, or care, | |
| That calls for holy prayer? | |
| Has thy day been so bright | 25 |
| That in its flight | |
| There is no trace of sorrow? | |
| And thou art sure to-morrow | |
| Will be like this, and more | |
| Abundant? Dost thou yet lay up thy store | 30 |
| And still make plans for more? | |
| Thou fool! this very night | |
| Thy soul may wing its flight. | |
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| Hast thou no being than myself more dear, | |
| That ploughs the ocean deep, | 35 |
| And when storms sweep | |
| The wintry, lowering sky, | |
| For whom thou wak’st and weepest? | |
| Oh, when thy pangs are deepest, | |
| Seek then the covenant ark of prayer; | 40 |
| For He that slumbereth not is there— | |
| His ear is open to thy cry. | |
| Oh, then, on prayerless bed | |
| Lay not thy thoughtless head. | |
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| Arouse thee, weary soul, nor yield to slumber, | 45 |
| Till in communion blest | |
| With the elect ye rest— | |
| Those souls of countless number; | |
| And with them raise | |
| The note of praise, | 50 |
| Reaching from earth to heaven— | |
| Chosen, redeemed, forgiven; | |
| So lay thy happy head, | |
| Prayer-crowned, on blessed bed. | |
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