Poem by Paul Laurence Dunbar

The Mystery

  I was not; now I am--a few days hence
  I shall not be; I fain would look before
  And after, but can neither do; some Power
  Or lack of power says "no" to all I would.
  I stand upon a wide and sunless plain,
  Nor chart nor steel to guide my steps aright.
  Whene'er, o'ercoming fear, I dare to move,
  I grope without direction and by chance.
  Some feign to hear a voice and feel a hand
  That draws them ever upward thro' the gloom.
  But I--I hear no voice and touch no hand,
  Tho' oft thro' silence infinite I list,
  And strain my hearing to supernal sounds;
  Tho' oft thro' fateful darkness do I reach,
  And stretch my hand to find that other hand.
  I question of th' eternal bending skies
  That seem to neighbor with the novice earth;
  But they roll on, and daily shut their eyes
  On me, as I one day shall do on them,
  And tell me not the secret that I ask

1. Song (My heart to thy heart)
2. The Lawyers' Ways
3. Ere Sleep Comes down to Soothe the Weary Eyes
4. Not They Who Soar
5. Passion and Love

Albert Laighton The Mystery ("I saw a wonderful light")

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