Poems (Henderson)/A Query
For works with similar titles, see A Query.
A QUERY,
Does the will, whose strength and action, Guideth by its mighty power,Every human thought and passion, Live when mortal life is o'er?When the pulse beats slow and feeble, When the eye is dimmed in Death,When no more the heart's red fountains, Flow to stay the fleeting breath.
Is the will, the soul of being, Is it of that soul a part,Doth it live through endless ages, Is it brain, or thought's great chart?Tell us if in future vision, We shall view Earth's scenes again,View her children ever striving, With care and sorrow, woe and pain.
Heart of man can never fathom, Secrets of the great Unknown,Comes there from the dim forever, Neither light nor far-off sound, We can only trust the wisdom, Of that Being, he who set,The great heart of nature throbbing, He who guides her pulses yet.
He who fashioned every leaflet, He who letteth fall the rain,He who holds each human life, In the hollow of His hand.Why then fret the present life, With questioning, and doubt and dread,Why contest in endless volumes, Of the soul-life of the dead.
He who fashioned human forms, In His own likeness great and fair,Surely we may trust the future, In His great infinite care.
Life is full of noble duties, That each one may find to do,Life is full of lives so saddened, That scarce a sunray pierceth through.Science in its march of progress, Needeth brain, and mind, and heart,Every back to its own burden, Is fitted, each to bear its part.If there be a bridge connecting, Earth and Heaven, there must be,Weeping in that land of glory, At the sins the angels see.