Page:A Treasury of South African Poetry.djvu/297

Rh THE PRAYER.

not of prayers that fail; the prayers unheard

Are not the askings Paul meant when he said:

"Pray without ceasing." Be thou well assured,

The true petition, not of barren word,

But plumed of deed, scales Heaven overhead,

Where souls and suns from God's high throne are shed.

Pray without ceasing, let good deeds unfold

Like petals of a rose, until, complete,

The flower of asking, full and fair and sweet,

Is fit for God's right hand to take and hold.

False prayers are barren breath, like vapour rolled

Between men and the stars; they hide the feet

Of angels. But the true prayer, wise and meet,

From chiming sphere to sphere on high is told.

W. C. Scully.