Maurine And Other Poems/Secrets

by Ella Wheeler Wilcox

Think not some knowledge rests with thee alone;
  Why, even God’s stupendous secret, Death,
  We one by one, with our expiring breath,
Do pale with wonder seize and make our own;
The bosomed treasures of the earth are shown,
  Despite her careful hiding; and the air
  Yields its mysterious marvels in despair
To swell the mighty store-house of things known.
In vain the sea expostulates and raves;
  It cannot cover from the keen world’s sight
  The curious wonders of its coral caves.
And so, despite thy caution or thy tears,
The prying fingers of detective years
  Shall drag thy secret out into the light.