Pain Knocked upon my Door

Pain knocked upon my door and said
That she had come to stay;
And though I would not welcome her
But bade her go away,
She entered in. Like my own shade
She followed after me,
And from her stabbing, stinging sword
No moment was I free.

And then one day another knocked
Most gently at my door.
I cried, “No, Pain is living here.
There is no room for more.”
And then I heard his tender voice, “
‘Tis I, be not afraid.”
And from the day he entered in —
The difference it made!

For though he did not bid her leave —
My strange, unwelcome guest —
He taught me how to live with her.
And I had never guessed
That we could dwell so sweetly here,
My Lord and Pain and I,
Within this fragile house of clay
While years slip slowly by!