Classic Poem

Deep , deep into thyself, my soul descend;
God calls aloud, with rev'rent ear attend.
Strikes he in vain? unmeaning was the blow?
Sudden it fell, and menac'd death and woe;
Death to a life in which my life is bound,
Woe, woe to me, and never-healing wound:
She lives! she lives! But Ah! is Heav'n appeas'd?
Or, next, am I the victim to be seiz'd?
Does old offence to his remembrance rise,
And bid the tear repentant fill my eyes?
My heart relents, my broken spirit mourns,
To thee, O Lord, my broken spirit turns.
Forgiving God, cast, cast my sins away,
Far as the rising from the setting day.
Spare me, O Lord, my tender offspring spare,
Let not the child the father's burden bear.
Avert this direful pest O heal my son,
Bid life's warm fluid through its channels run;
With healthful vigour bid the lungs inhale,
Eas'd of their load, thy vivifying gale.
With balmy hope erect his drooping mind,
With patience arm, and give the will resign'd,
Keep his youth pure, to shining virtue raise,
And crown that virtue with celestial praise.