John Oxenham

To This End

   And hast Thou help for such as me,
   Sin-weary, stained, forlorn?
           “Yea then,—if not for such as thee
                       To what end was I born?”
 
   But I have strayed so far away,
   So oft forgotten Thee.
           “No smallest thing that thou hast done
                       But was all known to Me.”
 
   And I have followed other gods,
   And brought Thy name to scorn.
           “It was to win thee back from them
                       I wore the crown of thorn.”
 
   And, spite of all, Thou canst forgive,
   And still attend my cry?
           “Dear heart, for this end I did live,
                       To this end did I die.”
 
   And if I fall away again,
   And bring Thy Love to shame?
           “I’ll find thee out where’er thou art,
                       And still thy love will claim.”
 
   All this for me, whose constant lack
   Doth cause Thee constant pain?
           “For this I lived, for this I died,
                       For this I live again.”
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