The Quest

I sought Him on the purple seas,

I sought Him on the peaks aflame;

Amid the gloom of giant trees

And canyons lone I called His name;

The wasted ways of earth I trod:

In vain! In vain! I found not God.

I sought Him in the hives of men,

The cities grand, the hamlets gray,

The temples old beyond my ken,

The tabernacles of to-day;

All life that is, from cloud to clod

I sought. . . . Alas! I found not God.

Then after roamings far and wide,

In streets and seas and deserts wild,

I came to stand at last beside

The death-bed of my little child.

Lo! as I bent beneath the rod

I raised my eyes . . . and there was God.