QUESTION?
Joaquin Miller
n the days when my mother, the Earth, was young, - And you all were not, nor the likeness of you,
- She walk'd in her maidenly prime among
- The moonlit stars in the boundless blue.
- Then the great sun lifted his shining shield,
- And he flash'd his sword as the soldiers do,
- And he moved like a king full over the field,
- And he look'd, and he loved ner brave and true.
- And looking afar from the ultimate rim,
- As he lay at rest in a reach of light,
- He beheld her walking alone at night,
- When the buttercup stars in their beauty
- So he rose up flush'd in his love, and he ran,
- And he reach'd his arms, and around waist
- He wound them strong like a love-struck man,
- And he kiss'd and embraced her, brave and chaste.
- So he nursed his love like a babe at its birth,
- And he warm'd in his love as the long years ran,
- Then embraced her again, and sweet mother Earth
- Was a mother indeed, and her child was man.
- The sun is the sire, the mother is earth!
- What more do you know? what more do I need?
- The one he begot, and the one gave birth,
- And I love them both, and let laugh at your creed.
- And who shall say I am all unwise
- In my great, warm faith? Time answers us not:
- The quick fool questions; but who replies ?
- The wise man hesitates, hushed in thought.