Poems (Hoffman)/My Father Knows the Way

by Martha Lavinia Hoffman

MY FATHER KNOWS THE WAY.

My Father knows the way, His love
 Compare with any human love;
The best affection man may claim
Is as a candle's flickering flame
 To the world-lighting sun above.

My Father knows the way, I turn
 Toward the road I've traveled o'er.
O my weak vision, dazzled, blind!
My Father knew the way behind,
 He knows the way before.

My Father knows the way, His hand
 Holds tight the reins of chance and fate.
No star reveals the road ahead,
And yet His child should feel no dread
 Although the night is late.

My Father knows the way, His eye
 Can pierce the gloom that blinds my sight;
I hear the rumbling wheels go on,
Life's chariot o'er Time's road is drawn,
 I know that all is right.

My Father knows the way, His ear
 Can catch the faintest sound before.
He knows where lie the banks so steep,
Of Trouble's river, dark and deep,
 He hears its nearing roar.

My Father knows the way, His care
 Shall guard me through the blinding foam;
Nor yet forsake me when I see
Flash out on Life's dark mystery
 The beacon light of home.