Lucy Larcom

The Heavenward Call

WHAT shall I do, my Lord, my God,
To make my life worth more to Thee?
Within my heart, through earth abroad,
Deep voices stir and summon me.

Through strange confusions of the time
I hear Thy beckoning call resound:
There is a pathway more sublime
Than yet my laggard feet have found.

My coward heart, my flagging feet,
They hold me in bewildering gloom:
Come Thou my stumbling steps to meet,
And lift me unto larger room!

The dearest voice may lead astray:
Speak Thou! Thy word my guide shall be,
Oh, not from life and men away,
But through them, with them, up to Thee.

It is not much these hands can do:
Keep Thou my spirit close to Thine,
Till every thought Thy love throbs through,
And all my words breathe truth divine!

With souls that seek Thy pure abode,
Let my unfaltering soul aspire!
Make me a radiance on the road;
A bearer of Thy sacred fire!