A Consolation Poem by David Mitchell

'This child of clay
To me was given
To rear and train
By sorrow and pain
In the narrow way,
Alleluia,
From earth to heaven.'
- THE VENERABLE JOHN HENRY CARDINAL NEWMAN.

When anguish'd sighs are sadly shed
And salty tears fall free and fast,
And when your life is heavy as lead
And memory dwells upon the past,
When foes and friends alike will hate,
When your soul will not cease to groan,
And you, unglad, submit to fate,
Remember you are not alone.

When falsely you are accused of crimes
That you would easily commit,
When you wish you'd been born in times
For which you did not feel unfit,
When broken is your breaking heart
And you think you are on your own
And demons tear your soul apart,
Remember you are not alone.

When you are beaten, scorn'd, and thrash'd,
And no one wants to understand;
By biting sarcasm you are lash'd;
You feel a million miles from land;
When all the world laughs you to scorn,
And talks of you in jeering tone,
And you wish you had not been born,
Remember you are not alone.

When in the depths of the abyss
You find your sinful soul is cast,
And when you long for more than this,
And yearn to breathe - to breathe your last,
And for fair Death's tender embrace,
And once for ever to have flown
From this most miserable place,
Remember you are not alone.


This is the path that men have trod
Before, and men will tread again –
For to prepare to meet your God
Endure brief suffering and pain:
Each baby in its mother's arms,
That wails with sad prophetic moan;
Each warrior in war's alarms,
Remember you are not alone.

Each mother bringing forth new life,
Each sick man on the brink of death,
This moment bears measureless strife,
For suff'ring comes, alas! with breath.
So do not fear when sorrow smites
Your soul; if you thought you'd outgrown
Tears that the honest babe not fights,
Remember you are not alone.

Remember when the God of heaven
Knelt in the garden, blood for sweat,
Remember when that God was given
Thirty-nine lashes, nor forget.
They crown'd the King of Kings with thorns
- He bore his fate with many a groan -
Imitate Him when all the world scorns -
Remember you are not alone.

Remember Simon of Cyrene
Bearing for Christ the doleful Cross;
Behold Jesus the Nazarene
Suffer and die - behold our loss –
He dies to bring life once for all –
The seeds of paradise are sown –
What will we there this half-life call?
Remember you are not alone.

O Queen of heaven, sweet Mary maid,
To thee we cry, life, sweetness, hope,
And send our sighs up from the shade
Of this tear-vale where weep and mope
Eve's poor and banish'd progeny:
Then turn thine eyes toward us who moan,
Show us exiles thy son, Mary,
For we are not alone.