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.