Power of Poetry

I copied out this poem for a friend at church who's going through a rough time. Even though William Blake lived two hundred years ago, he spoke to my own issues, as well as to my friend's ... and perhaps also to yours.

On Another's Sorrow by William Blake

Can I see another's woe
And not be in sorrow too?
Can I see another's grief,
And not seek for kind relief?

Can I see a falling tear,
And not feel my sorrow's share?
Can a father see his child
Weep, nor be with sorrow filled?

Can a mother sit and hear
An infant groan, an infant fear?
No, no! Never can it be!
Never, never can it be?

And can He who smiles on all
Hear the wren with sorrows small,
Hear the small bird's grief and care,
Hear the woes that infants bear,

And not sit beside the nest,
Pouring pity in their breast;
And not sit the cradle near,
Weeping tear on infant tear;

And not sit both night and day,
Wiping all our tears away?
O, no! Never can it be!
Never, never can it be!

He doth give His joy to all;
He becomes an infant small;
He becomes a Man of Woe;
He doth feel the sorrow too.

Think not thou canst sigh a sigh
And thy Maker is not by;
Think not thou canst weep a tear
And thy Maker is not near,

O! He gives to us His joy
That our grief He may destroy;
Till our grief is fled and gone
He doth sit by us and moan.