SUPPLIANT, a poem

FATHER, I lift my hands to Thee:
     Reject me not!
Mine eyes are blind, I cannot see.
Be Thou the lamp unto my feet,—
Guide to the rock of my retreat;
O Light, my darkness cries to Thee!
     Reject me not!

Father, mine eyes with tears are wet,
     Reject me not!
Though Thou forgive, shall I forget?
Nay, though thy mercy fall like rain,
My spirit still must bear the pain
And burden of a vast regret.
     Reject me not!

To whom, unfriended, should I flee?
     Reject me not!
To whom, my Father, but to Thee?—
Ah! 't was thy child forgave the sin
Of the repentant Magdalen,
And blessed the thief on Calvary!—
     Reject me not!

"Suppliant" by Florence Earle Coates. Published in Poems (1898) and Poems (1916) Volume II.