| Jessie B. Rittenhouse, ed. (1869–1948). The Little Book of Modern Verse. 1917. |
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| 12. Mockery |
| | | By Louis Untermeyer |
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| GOD, I return to You on April days | |
| When along country roads You walk with me, | |
| And my faith blossoms like the earliest tree | |
| That shames the bleak world with its yellow sprays— | |
| My faith revives, when through a rosy haze | 5 |
| The clover-sprinkled hills smile quietly, | |
| Young winds uplift a bird’s clean ecstasy … | |
| For this, O God, my joyousness and praise! | |
| But now—the crowded streets and choking airs, | |
| The squalid people, bruised and tossed about; | 10 |
| These, or the over-brilliant thoroughfares, | |
| The too-loud laughter and the empty shout, | |
| The mirth-mad city, tragic with its cares … | |
| For this, O God, my silence—and my doubt. | |
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