Poems (Stephens)/The inquiry
THE INQUIRY.
Awake my soul, a flood of light Is poured upon the world around, A Hood of glory, that my sight, My mortal senses cannot bound.
Awake and read this cumbrous chain That I have wound about my brow.How long 'twas sought, and yet 'tis found, A burden and a torture now.
I see the forests many dye'd, A beauty in each falling leaf. Yet cannot read the mysteries Of anything so frail and brief.
And mu.sic floats upon the air From birds of many colored wing, Whence comes the plumage that they wear Who taught to each the songs they sing?
I sit beside the deep blue sea. And list' the waters as they go, A thousand streams are mingled there. But tell me whither can they flow?
Whence comes the fragrance of the rose, Who formed the dainty lily's bell, Who raised the lofty mountain height Or made the silent leafy dell?
Who breathed into this clod of clay A living, feeling, anxious soul? Whence and what are we, who can tell And what is this stupendous whole?