Poems (Helen Jenkins)/The Penitent's Appeal

THE PENITENT'S APPEAL.

My Father! O my God! wilt hear
My penitential prayer?
Though I have wandered far from Thee,
And merit not Thy care,
I feel Thou wilt not turn away
When erring children kneel;
But Thou wilt heed—in mercy heed—
When sorrowing hearts appeal.

With rainbow visions I had clothed
This changeful, fleeting life,
Unconscious, in home's guarded walls,
Of all its woe and strife;
Shielded by watchful parents dear
From the world's chilling phase,
Till life seemed but a dream of love
To my unwearied gaze.

I shrink as my maturer sight
The blotted page unrolls;
For, far and near, 'mid wails of woe
The death-bell sadly tolls;
And dark depravity and sin
Have spread their direful trace,
Till, as I look, a blackened veil
Rests o'er the earth's fair face.

I look within; my own heart meets
Me with accusing pain;
Far, far from Thee, a giddy child
Living almost in vain!
Yet seeking for a nobler life,
Yearning to feel Thy love
Like sunlight falling on my soul,
Its darkness to remove!

I can but turn to Thee; for here
Alone is refuge sweet.
Thou wilt forgive my sins, and give
Me strength and wisdom meet
To do Thy will. Keep Thou my thoughts
From evil all my days,
Nor let my vain and careless lips
Forget to sing Thy praise!

O, Thou art good and merciful!
When shall we cease to sin?
Ah, never till "beyond the gates"
We all are gathered in!
We are so frail, so weak, 'tis hard
To keep the narrow way;
But in that brighter, fairer land
We shall not go astray.