The Children Crying in the Night
I HEAR the children crying in the night,
The little children: “God of stars and sun,
We do not like the darkness; send down light
From where there is so much to where there’s none;
Fireflies and flowers we love, and all things bright,
But in our hearts it’s dark; dear God, send light! “A little Child, we’ve heard, thou once didst send,
Light to the heart of all the world to be;
And so we think, dear God, thou didst intend
Some light for little children such as we.
For what a child can bring a child can take;
Then give us light, dear God, for that Child’s sake. “And if it be there is no light to spare,—
Dear God, forgive if what we ask is wrong,
We’re only heathen children,—is it fair
That others should have all the light so long?
We would not wish that they should have our night,
But when will our turn come to have the light?” — Selected.