Prayer, under the Pressure of Violent Anguish
The speaker addresses a Great Being whose nature surpasses human understanding but whose knowledge encompasses all creation. Standing before this power in misery and distress, the speaker believes that even the sufferings tormenting the soul occur under its command. Unable to believe that the Almighty acts from cruelty or anger, the speaker begs either for release from tears or for death. If affliction must continue as part of a wise design, the speaker asks instead for the strength and resolution to endure without complaint.
By Robert Burns · First published 1786 · Genre: Religious Poetry, Devotional Poetry, Prayer · 148 words
First lines
O Thou Great Being! what Thou art, / Surpasses me to know; / Yet sure I am, that known to Thee / Are all Thy works below.
Thy creature here before Thee stands, / All wretched and distrest; / Yet sure those ills that wring my soul / Obey Thy high behest.
Sure, Thou, Almighty, canst not act / From cruelty or wrath! / O, free my weary eyes from tears, / Or close them fast in death!
But, if I must afflicted be, / To suit some wise design, / Then man my soul with firm resolves, / To bear and not repine!
What this Textopian page supports
Prayer, under the Pressure of Violent Anguish is listed on Textopian as a poem by Robert Burns, dated 1786 CE.
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- Work type: Poem
- Author: Robert Burns
- Date: 1786 CE
- Language: English
- Genres: Religious Poetry, Devotional Poetry, Prayer, Lyric Poetry, Meditative Poetry
- Length: 148 words
- Structure: 1 section, 4 paragraphs
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- Work identity for Prayer, under the Pressure of Violent Anguish by Robert Burns
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- Genre and topic classification from the Textopian catalog
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Similar titles
- Prayer In The Prospect Of Death by Robert Burns
- Hymn To God My God In My Sickness by John Donne
- Stanzas On The Same Occasion by Robert Burns
- Everyday Religion by Ruth Collie
- A Hymn For The Church Militant by G. K. Chesterton
- Epitaph On Himself To The Countess Of Bedford by John Donne
Genres
- Religious Poetry — The poem is an explicit address to God, centered on divine power, providence, suffering, and prayerful submission.
- Devotional Poetry — Its speaker adopts a posture of worship, confession, petition, and spiritual dependence before an Almighty being.
- Prayer — The work directly petitions God for relief from anguish or, alternatively, strength to endure affliction without complaint.
- Lyric Poetry — It is a brief, first-person expression of intense inward feeling, using regular stanzas, rhyme, and direct emotional language.
Tags
devotional poetry · prayer · Christian spirituality · God's unknowable nature · divine omniscience · divine providence · suffering · personal anguish · spiritual distress · affliction · tears · death wish