KYRIE ELEISON POEM by Adelaide Anne Procter
Poetry from A Chaplet of Verses.
ADELAIDE ANNE PROCTER – KYRIE ELEISON POEM
IN joy, in pain; in sorrow,
Father, Thy hand we see;
But some among Thy children
Deny this faith and Thee.
They will not ask Thy mercy,
But we kneel for them in prayer
Are they not still Thy children?
Pity, O God! and spare.
Thy peace, O Lord, has never
On their desolate pathway shone,
Darkness is all around them :
Kyrie Eleison!
For them, the starry heavens
No hymn of worship raise;
For them, earth’s innocent flowers
Breathe not Thy silent praise;
In heaven they know no Saviour,
No Father, and no Friend,
And life is all they hope for,
And death they call the end;
Their eyes, O Lord! are blinded
To the glories of the sun,
To the shining of the sea star—
Kyrie Eleison !
By the love thy saints have shown Thee,
And the sorrows they have borne,
Leave not these erring creatures
To wander thus forlorn.
By Thy tender name of Saviour,—
The name they have denied;
By Thy bitter death and passion,
And the Cross which they deride;
By the anguish Thou hast suffered,
And the glory Thou hast won;
By Thy love and by Thy pity—
Christe Eleison!
Pray for them, glorious seraphs,
And ye, bright angel band,
Who chant His praises ever,
And in His presence stand;
And thou, O gentle Mother,
Queen of the starry sky;
Ye Saints whose toils are over,
Join your voices to our cry—
In Thy terror or Thy mercy,
Call them ere life is done,
For His sake who died to save them,
Kyrie Eleison!
Adelaide Anne Procter – A Chaplet of Verses
