The Awakening

LUCIE HASKELL HILL

First came the hungriness:
The costly foods and wines which had been his,
So long as he had wherewithal to pay,
Were now denied him; and the tasteless husks,
Left by the swine which he was set to tend,
He dared not take to still the hunger-pang.
(Could one sink lower than to dwell with swine?)

Then came remembrance:
For, after all, the husks were unfit food
For him who was the scion of a king!
He thought him of his father's palaces,
And of the difference between the fare
Of prodigals and the full-savored food
That graced the tables in his father's realm.

And then he mused:
My father's servants have enough to eat,
While I have nothing! From his eyes there fell
The veil which had obscured his boyish gaze:
He saw the pleasures which had tempted him—
As empty as the husks the swine had left,
That could not nourish him, nor satisfy.

Then came decision:
I will arise and to my father go!
I know that I shall find a welcome there,
And plenty to fulfill each right desire.
And lo, as he thus took the homeward way
His father came to meet him, joyfully,
With robe and ring and royal welcoming.

"I will arise"!
It must have been these simple words that marked
The moment of the prodigal's release.
The sin and pangs of hunger, all were healed,
Were left behind him like the cast-off husks;
Sense-hunger vanished in the pure desire
To eat the holy food of righteousness.

"I will arise"!
Dear heart that hungers, these three words may be
The words thou need'st to say; and having said,
Thou need'st not wait, for what thou seek'st is thine:
Thy Father's welcome, food, and rest, and home—
A rich inheritance of life and love;
And thou art healed, if thou wilt only go!

There is no prodigal!
This claim of husks, and swine, and famishment
Is but a dream that has no part in man,
Who has not ever left his Father's house.
Arise in thought! Behold, thy Father waits
With robe of purity and ring of praise!
Awake! arise! thou art an heir indeed!

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