IT THE FOOL'S PRAYER EDWARD ROWLAND SILL T was a day of riotous joy and feasting in the royal palace. The haughty monarch, ruling by "divine right," had turned from the cares of rigorous, perhaps cruel, rulership to feasting and jesting to relieve a heart, it may be, "red with wrong." He had been absolute in power. On every hand, fawning courtiers bowed to him and flattered him. Great was his delight as he saw at his banquet-board the noblest princes and lords of his dominions. At the conclusion of the royal feast, the King, flushed with wine and swelled with pride and bigotry, bade his jester give them some new sport as a fitting climax to their joy. Indeed, the proud monarch, spurning even things divine, bade the fool in sport, "Kneel now and make for us a prayer." The fool knelt, and the following poem, with keenest insight, recites the prayer and its sequel, and reveals how the arrows of truth hushed the mocking court and pierced the haughty, insolent heart of the King. THE FOOL'S PRAYER* The royal feast was done; the King Kneel now, and make for us a prayer!" * Used by permission of, and by special arrangement with, Houghton Mifflin Company, the authorized publishers of the works of E. R. Sill. The jester doffed his cap and bells, Behind the painted grin he wore. He bowed his head, and bent his knee "No pity, Lord, could change the heart "T is not by guilt the onward sweep We hold the earth from heaven away. "These clumsy feet still in the mire Go crushing blossoms without end; These hard, well-meaning hands we thrust Among the heartstrings of a friend. "The ill-timed truth we might have kept - "Our faults no tenderness should ask, The chastening stripes must cleanse them all; But for our blunders - Oh, in shame Before the eyes of heaven we fall. "Earth bears no balsam for mistakes; Men crown the knave, and scourge the tool That did his will; but Thou, O Lord, Be merciful to me, a fool!" The room was hushed; in silence rose SUGGESTIVE EXERCISES 1. What is shown of the King from the fact that he would suggest such a "new sport to banish care"? 2. Explain "mocking court." 3. What caused the "bitter smile behind the painted grin he wore"? 4. What tells whether or not the fool's prayer is from his heart? 5. Where did the fool get the idea of a heart "red with wrong"? 6. Explain ""Tis by our follies that so long We hold the earth from heaven away." 7. Explain fully "crushing blossoms without end." 8. In what sense did "men crown the knave and scourge the tool that did his will"? 9. Who was the crowned knave? 10. Why was the room hushed at the close of the prayer? Why did not the mocking court laugh now? 11. What was the effect of the prayer on the King? 12. How do you explain the fact that the fool's prayer did not furnish the sport intended? 13. Why does the King adopt the fool's prayer? 14. What additional meaning does the King put into it? REFERENCES POPE: The Universal Prayer. The Pharisee and the Publican (Luke XVIII:10-14). BYRON Vision of Belshazzar. SIR HENRY WALTON: Character of a Happy Life. KNOX: Why Should the Spirit of Mortal Be Proud? H. T. HUTCHINSON: The Fool's Waltz. GINEVRA SAMUEL ROGERS HIS poem is one of a collection of pieces in prose TH and blank verse which make up the author's "Italy." It commemorates the tragic fate of an innocent but gay young Italian bride who on her wedding night in playful mood, "fluttering with joy, the happiest of the happy," had concealed herself within an old oaken chest whose spring lock "fastened her down forever." The guests sought for her in vain, and not until years had passed was her fate discovered. The chest and a portrait of the lady were shown the poet on his visit to Modena. On seeing these, he wrote the following poem. GINEVRA If thou shouldst ever come by choice or chance To Modena, Stop at a Palace near the Reggio gate, A summer sun Sets ere one half is seen; but, ere thou go, Done by Zampieri -- but by whom I care not. He who observes it ere he passes on She sits, inclining forward as to speak, As though she said, "Beware!" Her. vest of gold It haunts me still, though many a year has fled, Alone it hangs Over a moldering heirloom, its companion, With Scripture stories from the life of Christ: That by the way it may be true or false But don't forget the picture; and thou wilt not, When thou hast heard the tale they told me there. She was an only child; from infancy The joy, the pride of an indulgent sire. Her mother dying of the gift she gave, That precious gift, what else remained to him? The young Ginevra was his all in life, Her playmate from her birth, and her first love. Just as she looks there in her bridal dress, Her pranks the favorite theme of every tongue. |