A Worker in Stone

Gilbert Parker (1862–1932)

"Poor as a sparrow was I,Yet I was saved like a king;I heard the death-bells ring,Yet I saw a light in the sky:And now to my Father I wing."

"A little while I saw the world go by—A little doorway that I called my own,A loaf, a cup of water, and a bed had I,A shrine of Jesus, where I knelt alone:And now alone I bid the world good-bye."

"I was a fool; nothing had I to knowOf men, and naught to men had I to give.God gave me nothing; now to God I go,Now ask for pain, for bread,Life for my brain: dead,By God’s love I shall then begin to live."

"Blows I have struck, and blows a-many taken,Wrestling I’ve fallen, and I’ve rose up again;Mostly I’ve stood—I’ve had good bone and blood;Others went down, though fighting might and main.Now death steps in—Death the price of sin.The fall it will be his; and though I strive and strain,One blow will close my eyes, and I shall never waken."