Be Not Afraid to Pray
Hartley Coleridge, 1796-1849
Be not afraid to pray; to pray is right.
Pray, if thou canst, with hope, but ever pray,
Though hope be weak or sick with long delay;
Pray in the darkness, if there be no light.
Whate’er is good to wish, ask that of Heaven,
Pray in the darkness, if there be no light.
Whate’er is good to wish, ask that of Heaven,
Though it be what thou canst not hope to see:
Pray to be perfect, though material leaven
Forbid the Spirit so on earth to be;
But if for any wish thou dar’st not pray,
But if for any wish thou dar’st not pray,
Then pray to God to cast that wish away.