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Home  »  An American Anthology, 1787–1900  »  963 Soul, Wherefore Fret Thee?

Edmund Clarence Stedman, ed. (1833–1908). An American Anthology, 1787–1900. 1900.

By GertrudeBloede

963 Soul, Wherefore Fret Thee?

SOUL, wherefore fret thee? Striving still to throw

Some light upon the primal mystery

Through rolling ages pondered ceaselessly,

Whence thou hast come, and whither thou shalt go!

Some deepest, secret voice gives thee to know

How, older than created earth and sea,

Thou hast been ever, shalt forever be,—

Unborn—undying! Thy own life doth show,

Yester, to-day, to-morrow, but a chain

Of dusky pearls, whereof we seek in vain

End or beginning, though perchance the one

We call To-day gleams whitest in the sun.

Ay, Soul, thy very Self is unto thee

Immortal pledge of Immortality!