AN ANCIENT PRAYER
“An
Ancient Prayer” is an admirable poem written by Thomas Henry Basil Webb. His
biographical details are not reliably available anywhere. But the full text of
the poem is easily available at relevant sources. It is one of the best loved
poems in anthologies consisting of faith and immortality poetry.
Here is the full text of the poem:
Give me
a good digestion, Lord, and also something to digest;
Give me a
healthy body, Lord, and sense to keep it at its best.
Give me a
healthy mind, good Lord, to keep the good and pure in sight;
Which,
seeing sin, is not appalled, but finds a way to set it right.
Give me a
mind that is not bound, that does not whimper, whine or sigh.
Don't let me
worry overmuch about the fussy thing called I.
Give me a
sense of humor, Lord; give me the grace to see a joke,
To get some happiness from life and pass it on to
other folk.
The above-mentioned prayer in the poem is mainly concerned with
health and happiness which, according to the poet, depend upon “good digestion”
and a mind that does not “whimper, whine or sigh” and also does not allow the
poet ”to worry overmuch about the fussy
thing called I.”
It is not wrong to say: “We
do not die but kill ourselves.” According
to a proverbial quote : One man’s meat
is another’s poison.”
The French writer and
philosopher Voltaire (1694-1778) believed that regimen is better than physic.
Every one should be his own physician. We ought to assist, and not to force
nature. Eat with moderation what agrees with your constitution. Nothing is good
for the body but what we can digest. What medicine can procure digestion? Exercise. What will recruit strength? Sleep.
What will alleviate incurable evils? Patience.
To conclude, here is a relevant quote by the Greek philosopher
Plato (427 BC – 347 BC) : Health, beauty, vigour, riches, and all the other
things called good, operate equally as evils to the vicious and unjust, as they
do as benefits to the just.
*******
G. R. Kanwal
12th April 2026
No comments:
Post a Comment