A PRAYER 
 
 
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A PRAYER 
 
 AND OTHER SELECTIONS 
 
 MAX EHRMANN 
 
 AUTHOR OF " BREAKING HOME TIES " 
 
 WITH BORDER DECORATIONS BY 
 
 AGNES M. WATSON 
 
 NEW YORK 
 
 DODGE PUBLISHING COMPANY 
 
 220 EAST 23o STREET 
 

 Copyright, 1903, by DODGE PUBLISHING COMPANY 
 Copyright, 1906, by DODGE PUBLISHING COMPANY 
 
 
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 A PRAYER 
 
 L^T me do my work each 
 day; and if the darkened 
 hours of despair overcome 
 me, may I not forget the strength 
 that comforted me in the deso 
 lation of other times. May I still 
 remember the bright hours that 
 found me walking over the silent 
 hills of my childhood, or dream 
 ing on the margin of the quiet 
 river, when a light glowed within 
 me, and I promised my early God 
 to have courage amid the tempests 
 
 
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 of the changing years. Spare me 
 from bitterness and from the sharp 
 passions of unguarded moments. 
 May I not forget that poverty and 
 riches are of the spirit. Though 
 the world know me not, may my 
 thoughts and actions be such as 
 shall keep me friendly with my 
 self. Lift my eyes from the earth, 
 and let me not forget the uses of 
 the stars. Forbid that I should 
 judge others, lest I condemn my 
 self. Let me not follow the 
 clamor of the world, but walk 
 calmly in my path. Give me a 
 few friends who will love me for 
 what I am; and keep ever burning 
 
 
 
before my vagrant steps the kindly 
 light of hope. And though age 
 and infirmity overtake me, and I 
 come not within sight of the castle 
 of my dreams, teach me still to be 
 thankful for life, and for time s 
 olden memories that are good and 
 sweet; and may the evening s twi 
 light find me gentle still. 
 
 
 
 
A 
 
 
 THE NOISE OF THE 
 CITY 
 
 \ 
 
THE NOISE OF THE CITY 
 
 
 If the noise of the city offend you, 
 go afield, when you may, 
 with the birds, and with all 
 the wild free life that troubles 
 not; 
 
 The growing grain and the placid 
 sky have a kind of voice; and 
 though you are alone, the 
 boundlessness of the universe 
 is with you. 
 
 The dreams of imperishable passions 
 in old history, the love of 
 mothers for children, and the 
 love of children, born and un- 
 

 
 
 born, and all love, swarm in 
 the soft air, speaking to the 
 inner ear in the still language. 
 Go afield with the birds and the 
 growing grain and the placid 
 sky, and dream and forget; 
 and you will see that you are 
 changed when you awake and 
 the gleams of the city peep 
 in your twilight returning. 
 
 ! 
 
 

 
 
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 THE LIGHT OF 
 A CHEERFUL HEART 
 
 , . 
 

 
 
 THE LIGHT OF A CHEER 
 FUL HEART 
 
 I tell you that you and I and the 
 commonest person are all 
 journeying in the same way, 
 hemmed in by the same nar 
 row path, leading to the 
 eternaj years. 
 
 We pride ourselves over our par 
 ticular superiority ; but really , 
 there is little difference 
 between us ; 
 
 And in this journey over the thou 
 sand hills and valleys called 
 
 

 life, he is wisest who is 
 patient where the way is hard, 
 has faith when he does not 
 understand, and carries into 
 the dark places the light of 
 a cheerful heart. 
 
 
 
 

 YOU WITH THE STILL 
 SOUL 
 

 
 
 YOU WITH THE 
 STILL SOUL 
 
 Maybe you have a still soul that 
 goes murmurless like the 
 water in the deep of rivers ; 
 
 And perchance you wander silent 
 amid the din of the world s 
 grinding barter like one 
 journeying in strange lands. 
 
 You, too, with the still soul, have 
 your mission, for beneath the 
 dashing, noisy waves must 
 ever run the silent waters that 
 give the tide its course. 
 
 
 
 
 

 KINDNESS 
 
 
 7N 
 
KINDNESS 
 
 
 Who lives 
 
 For kindness gives 
 
 A light to darkened lands; 
 
 And tho no image of him stands 
 
 In public place, he is a martyr 
 
 Amid piratic schemes of barter ; 
 
 And triumphs thohedieunwept: 
 
 His light may once have crept 
 
 Through hearts ot stone 
 
 And shone.