Bliss Carman, et al., eds. The World’s Best Poetry. 1904.
IV. Sabbath: Worship: CreedO yet we trust that somehow good
Alfred, Lord Tennyson (18091892)From “In Memoriam,” LIII.
O
Will be the final goal of ill,
To pangs of nature, sins of will,
Defects of doubt, and taints of blood;
That not one life shall be destroyed,
Or cast as rubbish to the void,
When God hath made the pile complete;
That not a moth with vain desire
Is shrivelled in a fruitless fire,
Or but subserves another’s gain.
I can but trust that good shall fall
At last—far off—at last, to all,
And every winter change to spring.
An infant crying in the night:
An infant crying for the light:
And with no language but a cry.