Page:Poems Howard.djvu/28

Impelled by one uplifting thought
 Came forth "the praying band"
From palace hall, or lowly cot,
 All over this broad land;
And who can doubt that from above,
 In heavenly realms of air,
The angels looked, in wond'ring love,
 And blessed the "Week of Prayer"?

By fireside, in busy mart,
 As by concerted plan,
A common impulse stirred the heart
 Of universal man
To consecrate the dawning year,
 In promise bright and fair,
To Him who have the thought sincere
 Of that first "Week of Prayer."

'T were meet, indeed, to choose one week
 From fifty-two or more,
For His benignity to seek,
 And clemency implore;
But every week throughout the year
 The same sweet name should bear
That every Christian must revere—
 The precious "Week of Prayer."