Cain - Part 2
But ah! their gentleness could not appease
His thirst for servile prayer, and He did shun them,
And on a day of wrath did cast upon them
A scourge and a disease.
I could not quell it, as they lay there stark,
But, high above this scene of lamentation,
I felt God reveled in my desolation,
And all my soul grew dark.
Doubt dawned, for He, the omnipotent, the strong,
No longer lent the beauty of His blessing
To those who loved Him, and in foul transgressing,
I brooded on my wrong.
My wrong; for He whom I had much besought,
He who had in His holy image made me,
Had wrecked my many prayers and had betrayed me.
The thought burned as I thought!
Forth in the glades where I had slept and sighed,
With harrowing hesitations then I wandered,
And deep in soundless solitudes I pondered
On His preposterous pride!
I saw life blooming insolent and rare
Around me with a keener, subtler wonder;
I saw life rule the earth above and under;
I saw life everywhere.
Nature alert, perpetually new,
Rose green before me, by that Maker's choosing,
And as I watched it in my somber musing,
A thought stupendous grew!
" Oh God!' I cried; " whom once I could adore,
I, then so humble, now a loyal hater,
Will mar thy work, most insolent creator,
Now and forevermore!
" My brawny arms will proudly sweep away
Before thine eyes each thing on earth now living,
And to destroy thy work, I, unforgiving,
Prepare in wrath to-day!
" Thy majesty my soul can not appall!
The tender earth is young and unencumbered;
All creatures having life are known and numbered,
And I, Cain, know them all!
" These will I slay, my wives and servants dear,
My laughing children, and my welcome brother,
My venerated sire, my white-browed mother,
All, and without a tear!
" I will not heed the tempting of a sigh,
To no compassionate call will I be pliant;
All, all shall die before Thee! Then, defiant,
Before Thee I shall die!
" Yea! thou shalt look upon a desert bare,
And clamor in vain for praise and anthems loudly,
While I alone will live to answer proudly,
Thou shalt have no more prayer!'
" Then, with my angry insults to the sky,
Unflinchingly my presence will pursue Thee,
And, when I choose to cease to speak unto Thee,
Then, only, will I die! "
His thirst for servile prayer, and He did shun them,
And on a day of wrath did cast upon them
A scourge and a disease.
I could not quell it, as they lay there stark,
But, high above this scene of lamentation,
I felt God reveled in my desolation,
And all my soul grew dark.
Doubt dawned, for He, the omnipotent, the strong,
No longer lent the beauty of His blessing
To those who loved Him, and in foul transgressing,
I brooded on my wrong.
My wrong; for He whom I had much besought,
He who had in His holy image made me,
Had wrecked my many prayers and had betrayed me.
The thought burned as I thought!
Forth in the glades where I had slept and sighed,
With harrowing hesitations then I wandered,
And deep in soundless solitudes I pondered
On His preposterous pride!
I saw life blooming insolent and rare
Around me with a keener, subtler wonder;
I saw life rule the earth above and under;
I saw life everywhere.
Nature alert, perpetually new,
Rose green before me, by that Maker's choosing,
And as I watched it in my somber musing,
A thought stupendous grew!
" Oh God!' I cried; " whom once I could adore,
I, then so humble, now a loyal hater,
Will mar thy work, most insolent creator,
Now and forevermore!
" My brawny arms will proudly sweep away
Before thine eyes each thing on earth now living,
And to destroy thy work, I, unforgiving,
Prepare in wrath to-day!
" Thy majesty my soul can not appall!
The tender earth is young and unencumbered;
All creatures having life are known and numbered,
And I, Cain, know them all!
" These will I slay, my wives and servants dear,
My laughing children, and my welcome brother,
My venerated sire, my white-browed mother,
All, and without a tear!
" I will not heed the tempting of a sigh,
To no compassionate call will I be pliant;
All, all shall die before Thee! Then, defiant,
Before Thee I shall die!
" Yea! thou shalt look upon a desert bare,
And clamor in vain for praise and anthems loudly,
While I alone will live to answer proudly,
Thou shalt have no more prayer!'
" Then, with my angry insults to the sky,
Unflinchingly my presence will pursue Thee,
And, when I choose to cease to speak unto Thee,
Then, only, will I die! "
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