Dear Lord! kind Lord!
Gracious Lord! I pray
Thou wilt look on all I love,
Tenderly to-day!
Weed their hearts of weariness; 5
Scatter every care
Down a wake of angel wings
Winnowing the air.
Bring unto the sorrowing
All release from pain; 10
Let the lips of laughter
Overflow again;
And with all the needy
Oh, divide, I pray,
This vast treasure of content 15
That is mine to-day!
1. James Whitcomb Riley (1853-1916) is an American
poet, best known for his poems for and about
children. You probably know "The Raggedy Man,"
"Little Orphant Annie," and "The Circus-Day
Parade." "The Prayer Perfect" is an example of his
serious verse.
2. From what three evils does the poet pray to have
his friends delivered? What good things does he
want them to have? What, beside the things he says
here, shows that Riley thought laughter a blessing?
(From the Biographical Edition of the Complete
Works of James Whitcomb Riley, copyright 1913, used
by special permission of the Publishers, The
Bobbs-Merrill Company)