Poem by Rudyard Kipling

The Prayer of Miriam Cohen

  Enlarged From "Many Inventions"

From the wheel and the drift of Things
Deliver us, Good Lord,
And we will face the wrath of Kings,
The faggot and the sword!

Lay not thy Works before our eyes
Nor vex us with thy Wars,
Lest we should feel the straining skies
O'ertrod by trampling stars.

Hold us secure behind the gates
Of saving flesh and bone,
Lest we should dream what Dream awaits
The Soul escaped alone.

Thy Path, thy Purposes conceal
From our beleaguered realm
Lest any shattering whisper steal
Upon us and o'erwhelm.

A veil 'twixt us and Thee, Good Lord,
A veil 'twixt us and Thee--
Lest we should hear too clear, too clear,
And unto madness see! 

1. The First Chantey
2. The Cursing of Stephen
3. The Jester
4. Anchor Song
5. The Covenant

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