 | The Human Inheritance |  |
159
A DIALOGUE.
Nature.Lo here, in this calm sea where no waves whirl,
I make some thought renascent in this pearl—
Must it remain and know no nobler sphere
Than twilight waters ever calm and clear?
God.
Deep in calm seas quiescent let it lie:
Its pure perfection none shall e'er descry
Save the omniscient omnipresent eye
That loves the secrets of the earth and sky.
Nature.
Beneath this vast and craggy peak there dwells
Long lullabied by subterranean wells
Of icy waters dark as darkest night,
A gem of wonderful translucent light:
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A living heart in this eternal stone?
God.
Nay, let some miner in the mountain's womb
Come on this ruby gleaming thro' the gloom:
Its place sufficeth not, it hath no room
To send forth rays, it seeks a nobler doom—
Yea, let it go, and feel a woman's breath,
And be the bale-star of a shattered faith
And lead a dying nation to its death.
Nature.
Lo, on strewn palm-leaves in this unknown isle
A new-born babe upon the world doth smile:
The mystic essence shines from out his eyes,
Pure as the angels without spot or guile—
Shall its soul now, while pure, regain the skies?
God.
Nay, let it know the wild free joyous bliss
Of morn and eve, of heedless winds that kiss
The dewy lips of flowers while still they sleep,
Of singing birds, and beasts that run and leap,—
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A perfect animal, the soul forgot,
Until the cycle of his years doth creep
Closer and wrap both body and soul in sleep.
Nature.
Behold, within yon far off teeming town
A woman thanks thee for her life's chief crown,
A child is hers, whom all fair hopes surround:
Shall he not live and make his age resound
With wisdom long sought after, seldom found?
God.
Let his unswathéd soul come forth to me,
A spirit upon earth it shall not be.
I call for one to come and one to stay;
For this to shine far from the light of day,
And this to dazzle eyes of men away;
One shall return again to primal force,
Another shall attain an infinite course—
Yet all are as the same to me who know
The ultimate ebb of things and the first flow.
| The Human Inheritance | |