Poetry Friday: Understanding
Understanding
by Sara Teasdale
I understood the rest too well,
And all their thoughts have come to be
Clear as grey sea-weed in the swell
Of a sunny shallow sea.
But you I never understood,
Your spirit’s secret hides like gold
Sunk in a Spanish galleon
Ages ago in waters cold.
***
Prayer of Saint Francis of Assisi
Lord, make me an instrument of your peace.
Where there is hatred, let me sow love;
where there is injury, pardon;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;
and where there is sadness, joy.
O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek
to be consoled as to console;
to be understood as to understand;
to be loved as to love.
For it is in giving that we receive;
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned;
and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.
This week’s Poetry Friday roundup is at Big A Little A.
TadMack says:
The second half of the Prayer is always what strikes me… how we’d all prefer to be consoled! And understood! and loved! But that is not our job. *sigh*
On October 24, 2008 at 9:58 am
Yat-Yee says:
When I was younger, this prayer would make me despair because I saw how impossible it was for me to do what it says. I realize now that it is a *prayer*, it’s “make me” and “grant me”.
There are a few good things about aging.
On October 24, 2008 at 8:20 pm
Maryan says:
This is a powerful prayer, Lissa. I recently learned that there is a line from this prayer that is often omitted. As a lover of truth, I thought you too might find it interesting. It is: “Where there is error, I may bring truth.”
More background on this prayer can be found here: http://www.franciscan-archive.org/franciscana/peace.html
On October 25, 2008 at 12:10 pm
Melissa Wiley says:
Maryan, you are right, I do appreciate that very much. Thank you for sharing it. Sometimes I think that is my most fervent prayer of all.
On October 25, 2008 at 1:52 pm
Helen (Mary Vitamin) says:
This week my little girl just picked a Sara Teasedale poem to memorize. I wouldn’t have recognized her name on your blog if I wasn’t homeschooling.
On October 26, 2008 at 6:41 pm
Helen (Mary Vitamin) says:
I’ll have to brush up on my homeschool spelling course.
On October 26, 2008 at 6:41 pm