When, in the dim beginning of the years, God mixed in man the raptures and the tears, And scattered through his brain the starry stuff, He said, "Behold! Yet this is not enough, For I must test his spirit to make sure That he can dare the vision and endure. "I will withdraw My face, Veil Me in shadow for a certain space, And leave behind only a broken clue, A crevice where the glory glimmers through, Some whisper from the sky, Some footprint in the road to track Me by. "I will leave man to make the fateful guess, Will leave him torn between the no and yes, Leave him unresting till he rests in Me, Drawn upward by the choice that makes him free— Leave him in tragic loneliness to choose, With all in life to win or all to lose." | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...THE SONG OF THE SHIRT by THOMAS HOOD DAFFODILS by WILLIAM WORDSWORTH GHOST STARS by MADELEINE AARON TO MRS -- RETURNING FINE HYACINTH PLANT AFTER BLOOM IS OVER by ANNA LETITIA BARBAULD PARODY OF A SHROPSHIRE LAD by HENRY MAXIMILIAN BEERBOHM THE POET, AND HIS INTERPRETERS by LOUISA SARAH BEVINGTON THE GUERRILLA by JOHN GARDINER CALKINS BRAINARD EPITAPH ON MR. JOHN SMYTH, CHAPLAIN TO THE EARL OF PEMBROKE by WILLIAM BROWNE (1591-1643) |