| |
| WHY hast Thou made me so, | |
| My Maker? I would know | |
| Wherefore Thou gav’st me such a mournful dower;— | |
| Toil that is oft in vain, | |
| Knowledge that deepens pain, | 5 |
| And longing to be pure, without the power? | |
| |
| “Shall the thing formed aspire | |
| The purpose to require | |
| Of him who formed it?” Make not answer thus! | |
| Beyond the Potter’s wheel | 10 |
| There lieth an appeal | |
| To Him who breathed the breath of life in us. | |
| |
| When the same Power that made | |
| My being has arrayed | |
| Its nature with a dower of sin and woe, | 15 |
| And thoughts that question all;— | |
| Why should the words appal | |
| That ask the Maker why He made me so? | |
| |
| I know we are but clay, | |
| Thus moulded to display | 20 |
| His wisdom and His power who rolls the years; | |
| Whose wheel is Heaven and earth;— | |
| Its motion, death and birth;— | |
| Is Potter, then, the name that most endears? | |
| |
| To Him we bow as King; | 25 |
| As Lord His praise we sing; | |
| To Him we pray as Father and as God; | |
| Saviour in our distress; | |
| Guide through the wilderness; | |
| And Judge that beareth an avenging rod. | 30 |
| |
| I grudge not, Lord, to be | |
| Of meanest use to Thee;— | |
| Make me a trough for swine if so Thou wilt;— | |
| But if my vessel’s clay | |
| Be marred and thrown away | 35 |
| Before it takes its form, is mine the guilt? | |
| |
| I trust Thee to the end, | |
| Creator, Saviour, Friend, | |
| Whatever name Thou deignest that we call. | |
| Art Thou not good and just? | 40 |
| I wait, and watch, and trust | |
| That Love is still the holiest name of all. | |
| |
| I watch and strive all night; | |
| And when the morning’s light | |
| Shines on the path I travelled here below;— | 45 |
| When day eternal breaks, | |
| And life immortal wakes, | |
| Then shalt Thou tell me why Thou mad’st me so. | |
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