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Poem by John Keble Second Sunday after Christmas When the poor and needy seek water, and there is none, and their tongue faileth for thirst, I the Lord will hear them, I the God of Israel will not forsake them. Isaiah, xli. 17. And wilt thou hear the fevered heart To Thee in silence cry? And as th’ inconstant wildfires dart Out of the restless eye, Wilt thou forgive the wayward though By kindly woes yet half untaught A Saviours right, so dearly bought, That Hope should never die? Thou wilt: for many a languid prayer Has reached Thee from the wild, Since the lorn mother, wandering there, Cast down her fainting child, Then stole apart to weep and die, Nor knew an angel form was nigh, To show soft waters gushing by, And dewy shadows mild. Thou wilt—for Thou art Israel’s God, And Thine unwearied arm Is ready yet with Moses’ rod, The hidden rill to charm Out of the dry unfathomed deep Of sands, that lie in lifeless sleep, Save when the scorching whirlwinds heap Their waves in rude alarm. These moments of wild wrath are Thine— Thine, too, the drearier hour When o’er th’ horizon’s silent line Fond hopeless fancies cower, And on the traveller’s listless way Rises and sets th’ unchanging day, No cloud in heaven to slake its ray, On earth no sheltering bower. Thou wilt be there, and not forsake, To turn the bitter pool Into a bright and breezy lake, This throbbing brow to cool: Till loft awhile with Thee alone The wilful heart be fain to own That He, by whom our bright hours shone, Our darkness best may rule. The scent of water far away Upon the breeze is flung; The desert pelican to-day Securely leaves her young, Reproving thankless man, who fears To journey on a few lone years, Where on the sand Thy step appears, Thy crown in sight is hung. Thou, who did sit on Jacob’s well The weary hour of noon, The languid pulses Thou canst tell, The nerveless spirit tune. Thou from Whose cross in anguish burst The cry that owned Thy dying thirst, To Thee we turn, our Last and First, Our Sun and soothing Moon. From darkness, here, and dreariness We ask not full repose, Only be Thou at hand, to bless Our trial hour of woes. Is not the pilgrim’s toil o’erpaid By the clear rill and palmy shade? And see we not, up Earth’s dark glade, The gate of Heaven unclose? John Keble John Keble's other poems:
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