James Weldon Johnson, ed. (1871–1938). The Book of American Negro Poetry. 1922.

The Teacher

LORD, who am I to teach the way

To little children day by day,

So prone myself to go astray?

I teach them KNOWLEDGE, but I know

How faint they flicker and how low

The candles of my knowledge glow.

I teach them POWER to will and do,

But only now to learn anew

My own great weakness through and through.

I teach them LOVE for all mankind

And all God’s creatures, but I find

My love comes lagging far behind.

Lord, if their guide I still must be,

Oh let the little children see

The teacher leaning hard on Thee.