Vesta

John Greenleaf Whittier 1807 (Haverhill) – 1892 (Hampton Falls)



O CHRIST of God! whose life and death
   Our own have reconciled,
Most quietly, most tenderly
   Take home thy star-named child!

Thy grace is in her patient eyes,
   Thy words are on her tongue;
The very silence round her seems
   As if the angels sung.

Her smile is as a listening child's
   Who hears its mother's call;
The lilies of Thy perfect peace
   About her pillow fall.

She leans from out our clinging arms
   To rest herself in Thine;
Alone to Thee, dear Lord, can we
   Our well-beloved resign.

O, less for her than for ourselves
   We bow our heads and pray;
Her setting star, like Bethlehem's,
   To Thee shall point the way!

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on April 07, 2023

35 sec read
111

Quick analysis:

Scheme XABA XCXC XDXD XEBE XFXF
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 647
Words 115
Stanzas 5
Stanza Lengths 4, 4, 4, 4, 4

John Greenleaf Whittier

John Greenleaf Whittier was an influential American Quaker poet and ardent advocate of the abolition of slavery in the United States. more…

All John Greenleaf Whittier poems | John Greenleaf Whittier Books

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    "Vesta" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 28 Mar. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/23275/vesta>.

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