Mystery.
All the earth’s history
Is mingled with mystery;
Thrid its long pathways thro’ Time’s gathered pages,
Struggle with theories,—delve as you will,
Wrapped in uncertainty, mystery still,
Baffling the lore of philosophy’s sages.
Wishes ungratified,
Longings unsatisfied;
Search is untiring and effort is eager,
Reaching for aye for the far, unattained,
Feeling the spirit to narrowness chained,—
All we may know, to the unknown is meager.
Yet, human pomposity,
Rich in verbosity,
Leads us afar, thro’ the limitless spaces,
Parting so boldly the cometal robes,
Shows us their bodies, as infantile globes,
Sportively seeking maturity’s places.
It measures Infinity,
Questions Divinity—Talks
of the universe at its inception;
Theory, feeling the pulse of the Earth,
Tells us how long since the planet had birth
And when we may look for its utter disruption.
Yet Life’s remote decimal—
The infinitesimal,
Puzzles the agnost for Nature’s great mother;
Never a blade without fertilized germ,—
Never a seed without blossoming term,—
Each is a subsequent unto the other.
* * * * *
Most wondrous, mysterious,
Throned and imperious,
Mind, in the beautiful temple of Being,
Rules o’er its realm with absolute sway
Till, broken and crumbling, the structure of clay,
Then swift on the wings of the silences fleeing.
Thought, strained to intensity,
Ranging immensity,
Asks for their home—for the spirit’s bright heaven;
A speck in the universe—our little earth,
’Mong millions, all grander and greater of girth—
Will God’s central glory to this one be given?
Ah! Safely He has hidden it,
From earth-gaze forbidden it:
Humbled and weary the bold Thought, returning,
Nestles down closer to God’s written word;
By grief’s parching thirst its sweet fountains are stirred;
Its pages yield balm that will soothe the heart’s yearning.
There, Heaven comes near to us,—
Those who were dear to us,
Safe in its mansions—we’ll question not where,—
Live in the light of an Infinite Love!
Faith sweetly whispers—“They beckon above,—
The loved ones, who’ve left us, are waiting us there.”
The hidden earth-histories—
The sought-after mysteries
Are veiled, but in blessing;—we seek for them ever;
Wisdom hath woven this mystical bond,
Binding the soul to God’s greater Beyond,
Enlarging, enriching, thro’ constant endeavor.