Classic Poem

Born in the deep, black hollow of a mine,
Nursed by weird songs that thrilled my wondering soul,
I lived amid vast labyrinths of coal,
Taught that, above, God reigned in light divine.

My mother told me, with soft words benign:
" Of Earth's great mystery thou wilt know the whole,
The blooming buds and trees will be thy goal,
A paradise of beauty will be thine. "

Ah! sad, prophetic promise! When she died,
And, even to my impatient mind, too soon,
I climbed, in trembling, to the Earth's green sod,
And it was night! Marveling, unsatisfied,
I saw the flawless splendor of the moon,
And swooning, cried in terror, " This is God! "