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1858–1924

PRAYER UNDER GRAY SKIES.

Edith Nesbit

O God, let there be rain! Rain, till this sky of gray That covers us every day Be utterly wept away,

Let there be rain, we pray, Till the sky be washed blue again Let there be rain! O God, let there be rain,

For the sky hangs heavy with pain, And we, who walk upon earth, We find our days not of worth; None blesses the day of our birth,

We question of death's day in vain,— Let there be rain! O God, let there be rain Till the full-fed earth complain.

Yea, though it sweep away The seeds sown yesterday And beat down the blossoms of May And ruin the border gay:

In storm let this gray noon wane, Let there be rain! O God, let there be rain Till the rivers rise a-main!

Though the waters go over us quite And cover us up from the light And whelm us away in the night And the flowers of our life be slain,

O God, let there be rain! O God, let there be rain, Out of the gray sky, rain! To wash the earth and to wash the sky

And the sick, sad souls of the folk who sigh In the gray of a sordid satiety. Open Thy flood-gates, O God most High, And some day send us the sun again.

O God, let there be rain!

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PRAYER UNDER GRAY SKIES. · Edith Nesbit · Poetry Cove