IF GOD compel thee to this destiny,
To die alone, --with none beside thy bed
To ruffle round with sobs thy last word said,
And mark with tears the pulses ebb from thee, --
Then pray alone--"O Christ, come tenderly!
By thy forsaken Sonship, --and the red
Drear wine-press, --and the wilderness outspread, --
And the lone garden where Thine agony
Fell bloody from thy brow, --by all of those
Permitted desolations, comfort mine!
No earthly friend being near me, interpose
No deathly angel 'twixt my face and Thine;
But stoop Thyself to gather my life's rose,
And smile away my mortal to Divine."