It is hard nowadays for poets who once wrote about topics of religious devotion to be fully understood by a modern audience. The pendulum of faith has swung so far in the Western world as to make such writers appear naive or deluded. I couldn't disagree more, of course, and love to read writers who are sensitive to the metaphysical in their lives. Christina Rossetti, about whom I have written often in the past, was just such a poet. She wrote both secular and devotional verse, so has a wide appeal.

The poem below is as close to a gem as I can think of. It improves with every reading.

I Am Small and of No Reputation

The least, if so I am;
If so, less than the least,
May I reach heaven to glorify the Lamb
And sit down at the Feast.

I fear and I am small,
Whence am I of good cheer;
For I who hear Thy call, have heard Thee call
To Thee the small who fear.