Explore "To-Day" by Ambrose Bierce on Textopian. Read with annotations and highlights.
I saw a man who knelt in prayer, / And heard him say: / "I'll lay my inmost spirit bare / To-day.
"Lord, for to-morrow and its need / I do not pray; / Let me upon my neighbor feed / To-day.
"Let me my duty duly shirk / And run away / From any form or phase of work / To-day.
"From Thy commands exempted still / Let me obey / The promptings of my private will / To-day.
"Let me no word profane, no lie / Unthinking say / If anyone is standing by / To-day.
"My secret sins and vices grave / Let none betray; / The scoffer's jeers I do not crave / To-day.
"And if to-day my fortune all / Should ebb away, / Help me on other men's to fall / To-day.
"So, for to-morrow and its mite / I do not pray; / Just give me everything in sight / To-day."
I cried: "Amen!" He rose and ran / Like oil away.
I said: "I've seen an honest man / To-day."