O Come, Holy Ghost
“The Fear of the Lord Is the Beginning of Wisdom…”
—Proverbs 9:10
O Come, Holy Ghost, and send us Thy gifts,
Confirm Thou our souls, give cause to their lift.
Offer us counsel through life’s destination;
Make us more wise: illume preparation.
Ever bestow Thy heavenly knowledge;
Help us reject the fallen world’s college.
Open our hearts; arm us with piety,
Life’s antidote to permissive society.
Yes, Thou as our Gift shall give us our sanction,
Guide us and arm us, though we are anxious.
Heal Thou our fears with fortitude’s anchor.
Open our minds—understanding’s our answer.
Sing us Thy blessings, Thy breath be our sword.
Teach us to trumpet our Fear of the Lord.
Johanna Donovan is a transplanted Swiss now growing in New England who gets up to write.
Johanna, thank you for this beautiful prayer for wisdom, fortitude, guidance, and protection.
Please note that the possessive adjective “thine” is used before a vowel sound and “thy” is used before a consonant sound, the same as we use “a” and “an.” Thus your poem should read, “Thy gifts,” “Thy blessings,” “Thy breath.” Also, for consistency, line 5 should be “Ever bestow Thy heavenly knowledge.”
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You are absolutely correct on all counts, Mary. Hopefully they will be corrected by the powers that be.
Johanna, what an interesting way to begin each line with a letter to spell out “O COME HOLY GHOST.”
Thank you, Roy. Acrostics seem to help me “step out of the box”.
A beautiful trumpet resounding in honor of the holyday, Johanna. I notice that you ask for all seven traditional gifts (wisdom, understanding, knowledge, counsel, piety, fortitude, and fear of the Lord), while acknowledging at line 9 (the turn of this couplet sonnet) that the Giver comes with each gift. Well done!
Thank you, Margaret, for your visit
and your understanding.
Acrostics can often feel a bit contrived, but not in this case. A pilgrim / penitent / parishioner appealing to the Holy Ghost in suitably archaic language made me feel like I was reliving the innocent piety of the Middle Ages.
Great stuff, Johanna.
Thank you, Paul. Your comment is appreciated.
This is an inspirational poem and especially that it incorporates an acrostics style.
Thank you, Laura, especially for the “inspirational”.