Florence Earle Coates

Life

Before we knew thee thou wert with us; ay,
⁠       In that far time, forgotten and obscure,
       ⁠When, doubtful of ourselves, of naught secure,
⁠       We feebly uttered first our human cry.
We had not murmured hadst thou passed us by,
       ⁠And now, with all our vaunted knowledge sure,
       ⁠We know not from what source of bounty pure
⁠       Thou camest, our dull clay to glorify.
Yet—for thou didst awake us when but dust,
⁠       Careless of thee—one tender hope redeems
       ⁠Each loss by the dark river: more and more
We feel that we who long for thee may trust
       ⁠To wake again, as children do from dreams,
       ⁠And find thee waiting on the farther shore.