Of Prayer. From Proverbial Philosophy Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis
Rhyme Scheme: AABACDEFGHIJKLMJAG NLNGDOJGJJLGJGMG PDJLGQNGJJQJGJQALNO NRJGQJSAQAQNJQJGGTJG GQ JQQAOFULAQQNAU NGUQGJJLJJ GD A| A WICKED man scorneth prayer in the shallow sophistry of reason | A |
| He derideth the silly hope that God can be moved by supplication | A |
| Can the unchangeable be changed or waver in his purpose | B |
| Can the weakness of pity affect him Should he turn at the bidding of a man | A |
| Methought lie ruled all things and ye called his decrees immutable | C |
| But if thus he listeneth to words wherein is the firmness of his will | D |
| So I heard the speech of the wicked and lo it was smoother than oil | E |
| But I knew that his reasonings were false for the promise of the Scripture is true | F |
| Yet was my soul in darkness for his words were too hard for me | G |
| Till I turned to my God in prayer for I know He heareth always | H |
| Then I looked abroad on the earth and behold the Lord was in all things | I |
| Yet saw I not his hand in aught but perceived that He worketh by means | J |
| Yea and the power of the mean proveth the wisdom that ordained it | K |
| Yea and no act is useless to the hurling of a stone through the air | L |
| So I turned my thoughts to supplication and beheld the mercies of Jehovah | M |
| And I saw sound argument was still the faithful friend of godliness | J |
| For as the rock of the affections is the solid approval of reason | A |
| Even so the temple of Religion is founded on the basis of Philosophy | G |
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| Scorner thy thoughts are weak they reach not the summit of the matter | N |
| Go to for the mouth of a child might show thee the mystery of prayer | L |
| Verily there is no change in the counsels of the Mighty Ruler | N |
| Verily his purpose is strong and rooted in the depths of necessity | G |
| But who hath shown thee his purpose who hath made known to thee his will | D |
| When gainsayer hast thou been schooled in the secrets of wisdom | O |
| Fate is a creature of God and all things move in their orbits | J |
| And that which shall surely happen is known unto him from eternity | G |
| But as in the field of nature he useth the sinews of the ox | J |
| And commaudeth diligence and toil himself giving the increase | J |
| So in the kingdom of his grace granteth he omnipotence to prayer | L |
| For he knoweth what thou wilt ask and what thou wilt ask aright | G |
| No man can pray in faith whose prayer is not grounded on a promise | J |
| Yet a good man commendeth all things to the righteous wisdom of his God | G |
| For those who pray in faith trust the immutable Jehovah | M |
| And they who ask blessings unpromised lean on uncovenanted mercy | G |
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| Man regard thy prayers as a purpose of love to thy soul | P |
| Esteem the providence that led to them as an index of God's good will | D |
| So shalt thou pray aright and thy words shall meet with acceptance | J |
| Also in pleading for others be thankful for the fulness of thy prayer | L |
| For if thou art ready to ask the Lord is more ready to bestow | G |
| The salt preserveth the sea and the saints uphold the earth | Q |
| Their prayers are the thousand pillars that prop the canopy of nature | N |
| Verily an hour without prayer from some terrestrial mind | G |
| Were a curse in the calendar of time a spot of the blackness of darkness | J |
| Perchance the terrible day when the world must rock into ruins | J |
| Will be one unwhitened by prayer shall He find faith on the earth | Q |
| For there is an economy of mercy as of wisdom and power and means | J |
| Neither is one blessing granted unbesought from the treasury of good | G |
| And the charitable heart of the Being to depend upon whom is happiness | J |
| Never withholdeth a bounty so long as his subject prayeth | Q |
| Yea ask what thou wilt to the second throne in heaven | A |
| It is thine for whom it was appointed there is no limit unto prayer | L |
| But and if thou cease to ask tremble thou self suspended creature | N |
| For thy strength is cut off as was Samson's and the hour of thy doom is come | O |
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| Frail art thou O man as a bubble on the breaker | N |
| Weak and governed by externals like a poor bird caught in the storm | R |
| Yet thy momentary breath can still the raging waters | J |
| Thy hand can touch a lever that may move the world | G |
| O Merciful we strike eternal covenant with thee | Q |
| For man may take for his ally the King who ruleth kings | J |
| How strong yet how most weak in utter poverty how rich | S |
| What possible omnipotence to good is dormant in a man | A |
| Behold that fragile form of delicate transparent beauty | Q |
| Whose light blue eye and hectic cheek are lit by the bale fires of decline | A |
| All droopingly she lieth as a dew laden lily | Q |
| Her flaxen tresses rashly luxuriant dank with unhealthy moisture | N |
| Hath not thy heart said of her Alas poor child of weakness | J |
| Thou hast erred Goliath of Gath stood not in half her strength | Q |
| Terribly she fighteth in the van as the virgin daughter of Orleans | J |
| She beareth the banner of heaven her onset is the rushing cataract | G |
| Seraphim rally at her side and the captain of that host is God | G |
| And the serried ranks of evil are routed by the lightning of her eye | T |
| She is the King's remembrancer and steward of many blessings | J |
| Holding the buckler of security over her unthankful land | G |
| For that weak fluttering heart is strong in faith assured | G |
| Dependence is her might and behold she prayeth | Q |
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| Angels are round the good man to catch the incense of his prayers | J |
| And they fly to minister kindness to those for whom he pleadeth | Q |
| For the altar of his heart is lighted and burneth before God continually | Q |
| And he breatheth conscious of his joy the native atmosphere of heaven | A |
| Yea though poor and contemned and ignorant of this world's wisdom | O |
| Ill can his fellows spare him though they know not of his value | F |
| Thousands bewail a hero and a nation mourneth for its king | U |
| But the whole universe lamenteth the loss of a man of prayer | L |
| Verily were it not for One who sitteth on His rightful throne | A |
| Crowned with a rainbow of emerald the green memorial of earth | Q |
| For one a mediating man that hath clad His Godhead with mortality | Q |
| And offereth prayer without ceasing the royal priest of Nature | N |
| Matter and life and mind had simk into dark annihilation | A |
| And the lightning frown of Justice withered the world into nothing | U |
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| Thus worshipper of reason thou hast heard the sum of the matter | N |
| And woe to his hairy scalp that restraineth prayer before God | G |
| Prayer is a creature's strength his very breath and being | U |
| Prayer is the golden key that can open the wicket of Mercy | Q |
| Prayer is the magic sound that saith to Fate so be it | G |
| Prayer is the slender nerve that moveth the muscles of Omnipotence | J |
| Wherefore pray O creature for many and great are thy wants | J |
| Thy mind thy conscience and thy being thy rights commend thee unto prayer | L |
| The cure of all cares the grand panacea for all pains | J |
| Doubt's destroyer ruin's remedy the antidote to all anxieties | J |
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| So then God is true and yet He hath not changed | G |
| It is He that sendeth the petition to answer it according to His will | D |
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| Transcribed from the th edition Proverbial Philosophy by Martin Farquhar Tupper by Mick Puttock August Spelling punctuation and grammer left mostly unchanged from the th edition | A |
Martin Farquhar Tupper
(1)
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