Classic Poem

THE PARIAH'S PRAYER .

Hear me, Brama, bending lowly!
All from thee derive their being;
Therefore art thou just and holy!
Is it, Lord, of thy decreeing,
That the Brahmins, high-estated,
Only should thy bounty gather,
Only dare to call thee, Father,
When us too thou hast created?

We are noble, Lord, in nothing!
Woe, and want, and labour pain us;
What all others shun with loathing,
Is the food that must sustain us.
When the scorn of caste is loudest,
All we'd bear without repining,
Were thy face toward us shining,
For thou canst rebuke the proudest.

Therefore, Lord, hear my entreaty!
Raise me from this foul defilement,
Or a Saviour send, in pity,
For the work of reconcilement.
Didst thou not a Bayadere
Lift from wretchedness to glory?
Yea, we Pariahs have a story,
Giving comfort to the weary.