Rhymes of a Rolling Stone

by
Robert W. Service

The Scribe's Prayer

     When from my fumbling hand the tired pen falls,
     And in the twilight weary droops my head;
     While to my quiet heart a still voice calls,
     Calls me to join my kindred of the Dead:
     Grant that I may, O Lord, ere rest be mine,
     Write to Thy praise one radiant, ringing line.

     For all of worth that in this clay abides,
     The leaping rapture and the ardent flame,
     The hope, the high resolve, the faith that guides:
     All, all is Thine, and liveth in Thy name:
     Lord, have I dallied with the sacred fire!
     Lord, have I trailed Thy glory in the mire!

     E'en as a toper from the dram-shop reeling,
     Sees in his garret's blackness, dazzling fair,
     All that he might have been, and, heart-sick, kneeling,
     Sobs in the passion of a vast despair:
     So my ideal self haunts me alway --
     When the accounting comes, how shall I pay?

     For in the dark I grope, nor understand;
     And in my heart fight selfishness and sin:
     Yet, Lord, I do not seek Thy helping hand;
     Rather let me my own salvation win:
     Let me through strife and penitential pain
     Onward and upward to the heights attain.

     Yea, let me live my life, its meaning seek;
     Bear myself fitly in the ringing fight;
     Strive to be strong that I may aid the weak;
     Dare to be true -- O God! the Light, the Light!
     Cometh the Dark so soon. I've mocked Thy Word;
     Yet do I know Thy Love: have mercy, Lord. . . .

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