Messina, 1908
Lord, Thou hast crushed Thy tender ones, o'erthrown
Thy strong, Thy fair; Thy man thou hast unmanned,
Thy elaborate works unwrought, Thy deeds undone,
Thy lovely sentiment human plan unplanned;
Destroyer, we have cowered beneath Thine own
Immediate, unintelligible hand.
Lord, thou hast hastened to retrieve, to heal,
To feed, to bind, to clothe, to quench the brand,
To prop the ruin, to bless, and to anneal;
Hast sped Thy ships by sea, Thy trains by land,
Shed pity and tears:—our shattered fingers feel
Thy mediate and intelligible hand.
Alice Meynell’s other poems:
