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Classic and Contemporary Poetry


ATHEISM: REASON by ELIZABETH OAKES PRINCE SMITH

First Line: THE INFINITE SPEAKS IN OUR SILENT HEARTS
Last Line: WHO, THOUGH DIVORCED FROM GOOD, BOW TO THE LORD OF HOSTS.
Subject(s): ATHEISM; DEATH; REASON; SOUL; DEAD, THE; INTELLECT; RATIONALISM; BRAIN; MIND; INTELLECTUALS;

The Infinite speaks in our silent hearts,
And draws our being to himself, as deep
Calleth unto deep. He, who all thought imparts,
Demands the pledge, the bond of soul to keep;
But reason, wandering from its fount afar,
And stooping downward, breaks the subtle chain
That binds it to itself, like star to star,
And sun to sun, upward to God again:
Doubt, once confirmed, tolls the dead spirit's knell,
And man is but a clod of earth, to die
Like the poor beast that in his shambles fell --
More miserable doom than that, to lie
In trembling torture, like believing ghosts,
Who, though divorced from good, bow to the Lord of Hosts.



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