Poetry Explorer


Classic and Contemporary Poetry


LIFE by HENRIETTA CORDELIA RAY

First Line: LIFE! AY, WHAT IS IT? E'EN A MOMENT SPUN
Last Line: LIFE! AY, AT BEST, 'TIS BUT A MYSTERY!
Subject(s): LIFE;

Life! Ay, what is it? E'en a moment spun
From cycles of eternity. And yet,
What wrestling 'mid the fever and the fret
Of tangled purposes and hopes undone!
What affluence of love! What vict'ries won
In agonies of silence, ere trust met
A manifold fulfillment, and the wet,
Beseeching eyes saw splendors past the sun!
What struggle in the web of circumstance,
And yearning in the winged music! All,
One restless strife from fetters to be free;
Till, gathered to eternity's expanse,
Is that brief moment at the Father's call;
Life! Ay, at best, 'tis but a mystery!



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