THE same old baffling questions! O my friend, I cannot answer them. In vain I send My soul into the dark where never burn The lamps of science, nor the natural light Of reason's sun and stars! I cannot learn Their great and solemn meaning, nor discern The awful secrets of the eyes which turn Evermore on us through day and night, With silent challenge, and a dumb demand Proffering the riddle of the dead unknown, Like the calm Sphinxes, with their eyes of stone, Questioning the centuries from the vale of sand. I have no answer for myself or thee Save that I learned beside my mother's knee; "All is of God and is to be; And God is good." Let this suffice us still, Resting in childlike trust upon His will Who moves to His great end unthwarted by the ill. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...DOWN THE MISSISSIPPI: 5. THE STEVEDORES by JOHN GOULD FLETCHER IMPRESSION by EDMUND WILLIAM GOSSE SUNDAY MORNING by WALLACE STEVENS THE MERRIMAC by JOHN GREENLEAF WHITTIER THE HAPPY WARRIOR by WILLIAM WORDSWORTH LINCOLN'S BIRTHDAY - 1918 by JOHN KENDRICK BANGS |