Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, THE HEIR, by PHOEBE CARY


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THE HEIR, by                 Poet Analysis     Poet's Biography
First Line: An orphan, through the world
Last Line: "the daughter of the king!"
Subject(s): Orphans; God


AN orphan, through the world
Unfriended did I roam,
I knew not that my Father lived,
Nor that I had a home.

No kindred might I claim,
No lover sought for me;
Mine was a solitary life,
Set in no family.

I yielded to despair,
I sorrowed night and morn --
I cried, "Ah! good it were for me,
If I had not been born!"

At midnight came a man --
He knocked upon my door;
He spake such tender words as man
Ne'er spake to me before.

I rose to let him in,
I shook with fear and dread;
A lamp was shining in his hand,
A brightness round his head.

"And who art thou," I cried;
"I scarce for awe might speak;
And why for such a wretch as I
Dost thou at midnight seek?"

"Though thou hast strayed," He said,
"From me thou couldst not flee;
I am thy Brother and thy Friend,
And thou shalt share with me!

"For me thou hast not sought,
I sought thee everywhere;
Thou hast a Father and a home,
With mansions grand and fair.

"To thine inheritance
I came thy soul to bring;
Thou art the royal heir of heaven --
The daughter of the King!"





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