What is the meaning of each paragraph of the poem the fool's prayer by edward rowland sill?

Answer 1

The royal feast was done; the King

Sought some new sport to banish care,

And to his jester cried: "Sir Fool,

Kneel now, and make for us a prayer!"

The king obviously views prayer as foolish and wants to "entertain" his guests by having the jester pray.

The jester doffed his cap and bells,

And stood the mocking court before;

They could not see the bitter smile

Behind the painted grin he wore.

The jester is apparently a man who views prayer as a sincere communication between oneself and God, and suspects the ulterior motive of the king, but will obey him anyway.

He bowed his head, and bent his knee

Upon the Monarch's silken stool;

His pleading voice arose: "O Lord,

Be merciful to me, a fool!

The jester begins his heartfelt prayer with sincerity and humility.

"No pity, Lord, could change the heart

From red with wrong to white as wool;

The rod must heal the sin: but Lord,

Be merciful to me, a fool!

He is admitting his unworthiness and sin, and asking God for mercy.

"'T is not by guilt the onward sweep

Of truth and right, O Lord, we stay;

'T is by our follies that so long

We hold the earth from heaven away.

We keep ourselves from heaven because of our own folly and disobedience

"These clumsy feet, still in the mire,

Go crushing blossoms without end;

These hard, well-meaning hands we thrust

Among the heart-strings of a friend.

He goes on to explain that we continue causing hurt and pain by our actions.

"The ill-timed truth we might have kept--

Who knows how sharp it pierced and stung?

The word we had not sense to say--

Who knows how grandly it had rung!

Here the jester is admitting to sins of "commission" and "omission" - we sin by doing things we should not, and also by neglecting to do those things we should.

"Our faults no tenderness should ask.

The chastening stripes must cleanse them all;

But for our blunders -- oh, in shame

Before the eyes of heaven we fall.

Here he is referring to the "chastening stripe" which Christ suffered in our stead - they are the only thing that can cleanse us.

"Earth bears no balsam for mistakes;

Men crown the knave, and scourge the tool

That did His will; but Thou, O Lord,

Be merciful to me, a fool!"

Humans are praised and esteemed, while Jesus Christ, the "tool" that did God's will, was scourged and mocked.

The room was hushed; in silence rose

The King, and sought his gardens cool,

And walked apart, and murmured low,

"Be merciful to me, a fool!"

The king here realizes his own foolishness, unworthiness, and his need for forgiveness