’Mid All the Traffic of the Ways

’Mid all the traffic of the ways,
Turmoils without, within,
Make in my heart a quiet place,
And come and dwell therein.

A little shrine of quietness,
All sacred to Thyself,
Where Thou shalt all my soul possess,
And I may find myself.

A little shelter from life’s stress,
Where I may lay me prone,
And bare my soul in loneliness,
And know as I am known.

A little place of mystic grace,
Of self and sin swept bare,
Where I may look upon Thy face,
And talk with Thee in prayer.

Author: John Oxenham

Year: 1917

Also known by its first line as 'Mid All the Traffic of the Ways'; sometimes published under the pen name of William Arthur Dunkerley. No significant alternate attributions.