My desires are many and my cry is pitiful,
but ever didst thou save me by hard refusals;
and this strong mercy has been wrought into my life through and through.

Day by day thou art making me worthy of the simple,
great gifts that thou gavest to me unasked---this sky and the light, this body and the
life and the mind---saving me from perils of overmuch desire.

There are times when I languidly linger
and times when I awaken and hurry in search of my goal;
but cruelly thou hidest thyself from before me.

Day by day thou art making me worthy of thy full acceptance by
refusing me ever and anon, saving me from perils of weak, uncertain desire.

TITLE: The first time I saw the title Strong Mercy, I thought about someone who is powerless to someone else and at their total and complete mercy.

PARAPHRASE: A man has many desires in his life but God saved him from these with refusals and his mercy to God has been an important part in his life. God makes the man worthy with the gifts he gives him, like the sky and light and this saves him from his covetous nature. The man shifts between lazily drudging through his life and having revelations and working hard, but God evades from the man. God makes the man worthy by always refusing him and saving him from desire.

ATTITUDE/TONE: The tone is devotional and of complete admiration.

SHIFTS: There is a shift after the second stanza in the poem. The first two stanzas discuss how the man admires God for everything that God gives to him, like the "sky and the light, this body and the life and the mind." The third and fourth stanza discuss how God is there to whip the man into shape when he is lacking motivation to work hard, and how this mercy is ultimately what shapes his life.

TITLE (2nd look): The title Strong Mercy does not mean powerful mercy as I originally thought. Strong mercy symbolizes that the mercy of God is an important part in shaping the life of the man, and therefore has a powerful impact on him.

THEME: God encompasses all aspects of life- the most important gifts he gives people are the simplest and if a person does not appreciate the life he is given, God is there to bring the hammer down and lead the person back on the right path.