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Home  »  The Poetical Works In Four Volumes  »  The Word

John Greenleaf Whittier (1807–1892). The Poetical Works in Four Volumes. 1892.

Religious Poems

The Word

VOICE of the Holy Spirit, making known

Man to himself, a witness swift and sure,

Warning, approving, true and wise and pure,

Counsel and guidance that misleadeth none!

By thee the mystery of life is read;

The picture-writing of the world’s gray seers,

The myths and parables of the primal years,

Whose letter kills, by thee interpreted

Take healthful meanings fitted to our needs,

And in the soul’s vernacular express

The common law of simple righteousness.

Hatred of cant and doubt of human creeds

May well be felt: the unpardonable sin

Is to deny the Word of God within!

1881.