When in the beginning of the years,
God mixed in man the raptures and the tears
And scattered through his brain the starry stuff,
He said, "Behold! Yet this is not enough,
For I must test his spirit to make sure,
That he can dare the vision and endure.
"I will withdraw my face,
Veil me in shadow for a certain space,
And leave behind only a broken clue,
A crevice where the glory shimmers thru,
Some whisper from the sky,
Some footprints in the road to track me by.
"I will leave man to the make the fateful guess,
Will leave him torn between the no and yes,
Leave him unresting till he rests in me,
Drawn upward by the choice that makes him free,
Leave him in tragic loneliness to choose,
With all in life to win or all to lose."
-Edwin Markham
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Spiritual Thoughts
