Poems (Van Rensselaer)/The Question

by Mariana Griswold Van Rensselaer

For works with similar titles, see Question.

THE QUESTION

Give, pray the living, giveMore willingness to live.Why, say the dying, whyIs it so hard to die?And as the newly bornWake with a wail forlorn,Shall so the newly deadLie in a painful bed?Or does the cycle closeWhen the last life-breath goes,And a new earth begin,Kinder than this has been?   Ask not, but only wait;  Soon thou shalt know thy fate.  Soon thou shalt know—unless  Greets thee with soft caress     Nothingness.