The Happy Marriage and Other Poems/Omniscience

by Archibald MacLeish

OMNISCIENCE

There was a lad and he sat alone,
And he watched the sky where a bird had flown,
And he watched the sea where a wind had run,
And he watched his shadow in the sun.

And he said, I know that birds go by
And leave no singing in the sky,
I know that winds blow silverly
And leave no brightness on the sea,

I know that when I'm digged away
My shadow's shadow will not stay:
Now God that knows both when and why,
He said, is not so wise as I.