| Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807–1882). Complete Poetical Works. 1893. | | | | Christus: A Mystery | Part II. The Golden Legend.
II. III. Elsie’s Chamber |
| | Night. ELSIE praying.
ELSIE. MY Redeemer and my Lord, | |
| I beseech thee, I entreat thee, | |
| Guide me in each act and word, | |
| That hereafter I may meet thee, | |
| Watching, waiting, hoping, yearning, | 5 |
| With my lamp well trimmed and burning! | |
| |
| Interceding | |
| With these bleeding | |
| Wounds upon thy hands and side, | |
| For all who have lived and errèd | 10 |
| Thou hast suffered, thou hast died, | |
| Scourged, and mocked, and crucified, | |
| And in the grave hast thou been buried! | |
| |
| If my feeble prayer can reach thee, | |
| O my Saviour, I beseech thee, | 15 |
| Even as thou hast died for me, | |
| More sincerely | |
| Let me follow where thou leadest, | |
| Let me, bleeding as thou bleedest, | |
| Die, if dying I may give | 20 |
| Life to one who asks to live, | |
| And more nearly, | |
| Dying thus, resemble thee! | | | | |
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