God; Not Gift
Gray clouds my heaven have covered o’er;
My sea ebbs fast, no more to flow;
Ghastly and dry, my desert shore
Parched, bare, unsightly things doth show.
’Tis thou, Lord, cloudest up my sky;
Stillest the heart-throb of my sea;
Tellest the sad wind not to sigh,
Yea, life itself to wait for thee!
Lord, here I am, empty enough!
My music but a soundless moan!
Blind hope, of all my household stuff,
Leaves me, blind hope, not quite alone!
Shall hope too go, that I may trust
Purely in thee, and spite of all?
Then turn my very heart to dust–
On thee, on thee, I yet will call.
List! list! his wind among the pines
Hark! hark! that rushing is his sea’s!
O Father, these are but thy signs!-
For thee I hunger, not for these!
Not joy itself, though pure and high–
No gift will do instead of thee!
Let but my spirit know thee nigh,
And all the world may sleep for me!
