Petition

Petition written by John Drinkwater

Olton Pools, 1916

Link to further information

O LORD, I pray: that for each happiness
My housemate brings I may give back no less
Than all my fertile will;

That I may take from friends but as the stream
Creates again the hawthorn bloom adream
Above the river sill;

That I may see the spurge upon the wall
And hear the nesting birds give call to call,
Keeping my wonder new;

That I may have a body fit to mate
With the green fields, and stars, and streams in spate,
And clean as clover-dew;

That I may have the courage to confute
All fools with silence when they will dispute,
All fools who will deride;

That 1 may know all strict and sinewy art
As that in man which is the counterpart,
Lord, of Thy fiercest pride;

That somehow this beloved earth may wear
A later grace for all the love I bear,
For some song that I sing;

That, when I die, this word may stand for me:
"He had a heart to praise, an eye to see,
And beauty was his king."

This work is in the public domain in countries where the copyright term is the author's life plus 70 years or less.