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Classic and Contemporary Poetry


SUBSTANCE by ALICE CARY

Poet Analysis

First Line: EACH FEARFUL STORM THAT O'ER US ROLLS
Last Line: IS THERE AND ONLY THERE.
Subject(s): GOD;

EACH fearful storm that o'er us rolls,
Each path of peril trod,
Is but a means whereby our souls
Acquaint themselves with God.

Our want and weakness, shame and sin,
His pitying kindness prove;
And all our lives are folded in
The mystery of his love.

The grassy land, the flowering trees,
The waters, wild and dim, --
These are the cloud of witnesses
That testify of Him.

His sun is shining, sure and fast,
O'er all our nights of dread;
Our darkness by his light, at last
Shall be interpreted.

No promise shall He fail to keep
Until we see his face;
E'en death is but a tender sleep
In the eternal race.

Time's empty shadow cheats our eyes,
But all the heavens declare
The substance of the things we prize
Is there and only there.



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