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Home  »  A Library of American Literature  »  Martha

Stedman and Hutchinson, comps. A Library of American Literature:
An Anthology in Eleven Volumes. 1891.
Vols. IX–XI: Literature of the Republic, Part IV., 1861–1889

Martha

By Julia C. R. Dorr (1825–1913)

[Born in Charleston, S. C., 1825. Died in Rutland, Vt., 1913. From Friar Anselmo, and other Poems. 1879.—Afternoon Songs. 1885.]

YEA, Lord!—Yet some must serve.

Not all with tranquil heart,

Even at thy dear feet,

Wrapped in devotion sweet,

May sit apart.

Yea, Lord!—Yet some must bear

The burden of the day,

Its labor and its heat,

While others at thy feet

May muse and pray.

Yea, Lord!—Yet some must do

Life’s daily task-work; some,

Who fain would sing, must toil

Amid earth’s dust and moil,

While lips are dumb.

Yea, Lord!—Yet man must earn,

And woman bake the bread;

And some must watch and wake

Early, for others’ sake,

Who pray instead.

Yea, Lord!—Yet even thou

Hast need of earthly care.

I bring the bread and wine

To thee, O Guest Divine!

Be this my prayer!