The Broken Wing

Have patience and have faith
The surgeon saith,
Suffer awhile this irksomeness of pain;
This broken limb shall soon be well again;
Yea, what is more,
Be stronger for all service than before.

So come I, broken heart,
To ease thy smart,
With promises the future will make good.
Bear thou in patience Sorrow's solitude,
For she, at length
Will lead thee forth in manliness and strength.

Yes, and in strength unknown
When joy alone
Held thee within her nerveless arms, until
Thou hadst lost courage, lost all force of will.
God will restore
That which he brake, and give it strength the more.

Will make thee strong and wise
To sympathize;
For thou wilt know to soothe, with tender hands,
The sufferings thou hast learned to understand;
And to the weak
What words of inspiration thou wilt speak!

Thou wilt be strong in love;
Soft as a dove,
Yet hovering as on eagle's wings around
The spot where loneliness and grief are found,
And healing bring,
In grateful memory of a broken wing.

Thou wilt have strength unpriced
To work for Christ!
To testify of Him whom pain alone
Could to the human soul Himself make known;
To watch and pray,
Stronger upon each morrow than to-day.


-Elizabeth Prentiss, Golden Hours, pg. 54-55