I ASKED the wind, “Where hast thou been | |
| Since last thy voice I heard, | |
| Since last the quivering of thy wings | |
| The leafy branches stirred, | |
| And freighted from its moss-clad home | 5 |
| Each gentle nestling bird? | |
| |
| “Ah, wherefore didst thou swell the storm | |
| When good ships went to sea; | |
| And why was bent the tall stout mast— | |
| The cordage rent by thee; | 10 |
| And why, when shattered bark went down, | |
| Thy shout of victory?” | |
| |
| “If o’er the ocean I have swept | |
| And lashed its waves to heaven, | |
| While high before me on the surge | 15 |
| The hapless bark was driven, | |
| And loud and fearful rose the cry | |
| Of men from warm life riven, | |
| |
| “I did His bidding who doth hold, | |
| In His all-powered hand, | 20 |
| The whirlwind that hath swept in might | |
| O’er ocean wave and land; | |
| I questioned not why such things were— | |
| Can mortal understand?” | |
| |
| Do thou His bidding—question not | 25 |
| Nor cower like frightened dove; | |
| Thou art the messenger of God, | |
| Sent from the heights above. | |
| Know thou art by the Father bid, | |
| Thy God—and God is Love. | 30 |
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