Classic and Contemporary Poetry
TO MY FATHER, by GEORGE MACDONALD Poet Analysis Poet's Biography First Line: Take of the first fruits, father, of thy care Last Line: Revealed man's glory, god's great human heart. Subject(s): Children; Christianity; Fathers & Sons; God; Poetry & Poets; Childhood | ||||||||
I. Take of the first fruits, father, of thy care, Wrapped in the fresh leaves of my gratitude, Late waked for early gifts ill understood; Claiming in all my harvests rightful share, Whether with song that mounts the joyful air I praise my God, or, in yet deeper mood, Sit dumb because I know a speechless good, Needing no voice, but all the soul for prayer. Thou hast been faithful to my highest need; And I, thy debtor, ever, evermore, Shall never feel the grateful burden sore. Yet most I thank thee, not for any deed, But for the sense thy living self did breed Of fatherhood still at the great world's core. II. All childhood, reverence clothed thee, undefined, As for some being of another race; Ah, not with it, departinggrowing apace As years did bring me manhood's loftier mind, Able to see thy human life behind The same hid heart, the same revealing face My own dim contest settling into grace, Of sorrow, strife, and victory combined! So I beheld my God, in childhood's morn, A mist, a darkness, great, and far apart, Moveless and dimI scarce could say Thou art: My manhood came, of joy and sadness born; Full soon the misty dark, asunder torn, Revealed man's glory, God's great human heart. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...THE THREE CHILDREN by JOSEPHINE JACOBSEN CHILDREN SELECTING BOOKS IN A LIBRARY by RANDALL JARRELL COME TO THE STONE ... by RANDALL JARRELL THE LOST WORLD by RANDALL JARRELL A SICK CHILD by RANDALL JARRELL CONTINENT'S END by ROBINSON JEFFERS ON THE DEATH OF FRIENDS IN CHILDHOOD by DONALD JUSTICE THE POET AT SEVEN by DONALD JUSTICE LOST AND FOUND by GEORGE MACDONALD THAT HOLY THING by GEORGE MACDONALD THE BABY, FR. AT THE BACK OF THE NORTH WIND by GEORGE MACDONALD |
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