Life
Published in Poem Of The Day
Life! Ay, what is it? E'en a moment spun
From cycles of eternity. And yet,
What wrestling 'mid the fever and the fret
Of tangled purposes and hopes undone!
What affluence of love! What vict'ries won
In agonies of silence, ere trust met
A manifold fulfillment, and the wet,
Beseeching eyes saw splendors past the sun!
What struggle in the web of circumstance,
And yearning in the winged music! All,
One restless strife from fetters to be free;
Till, gathered to eternity's expanse,
Is that brief moment at the Father's call.
Life! Ay, at best, 'tis but a mystery!
About this poem
"Life" was published in Henrietta Cordelia Ray's book "Sonnets" (J. J. Little & Co., 1893).
About Henrietta Cordelia Ray
Henrietta Cordelia Ray was born in 1849 in New York City. Her poem "Lincoln" was read at the unveiling of the Washington, D.C., Emancipation Memorial in 1876. She died in 1917.
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This poem is in the public domain. Distributed by King Features Syndicate
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