Sir William Davenant. 1606-1668
303. Praise and Prayer
1 min to read
88 words

PRAISE is devotion fit for mighty minds,   The diff'ring world's agreeing sacrifice; Where Heaven divided faiths united finds:   But Prayer in various discord upward flies.

For Prayer the ocean is where diversely   Men steer their course, each to a sev'ral coast; Where all our interests so discordant be   That half beg winds by which the rest are lost.

By Penitence when we ourselves forsake, 'Tis but in wise design on piteous Heaven; In Praise we nobly give what God may take,   And are, without a beggar's blush, forgiven.

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Edmund Waller. 1606-1687
304. On a Girdle
1 min to read
85 words
Return to Hemingway's List for a Young Writer (1934)






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