Neither Thirst Any More

This poem was written by Ellen Murray, a co-founder of the Penn School on St. Helena Island in South Carolina. The poem was originally published in the Newport Mercury on February 14, 1863.

By Ellen Murray

They thirst no more! No more! No more!

As once they thirsted in the way,

When on the desert stretch of sand,

Fell long and still the summer ray;

When parched lips opened all in vain,

And prayers were lost in soundless moan,

And useless, all along their track,

The once-prized treasure heaps are strewn.

They thirst no more, as now we thirst,

For all the promise earth holds out -

To one, the crown of laurel leaves;

To one, a nation’s grateful shout;

Success complete to crown the years

Of eager, restless hope and toil,

Or some still haven where to rest,

After life’s noon of care and moil.

They thirst no more, who thirsted once,

To sing in fever’s quenchless heat,

Counting the hours of day and night,

By their heart pulses hurried beat;

Thinking the while how cold and clear,

In the wild woods the fountains played,

And how in cold, white foams of wave,

They used in childish sport to wade.

They thirst no more! Forever past

Is the deep thirst for earthly love;

That longing, passionate, and wild, they never, never, feel above;

The heart-sick praying of the soul,

For love removed and love denied,

A cry of utter loneliness,

To which no loving tone replied.

They thirst no more! Thank God! Thank God!

We, too, at last, shall thirst no more,

But drink with them of living streams,

Where all the weary thirst is o’er,

And never failing founts of love

Shall flood our being into rest,

When our names are called with those

Who by Eternal Love are blest.

Part of a series of articles titled
Poems by Ellen Murray.

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The First Day of January, 1863

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The Slave in Tennessee

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