MY SOUL AND I.
My soul and I a warfare waged,Which had the right of way?Precedence was a law laid down,Which one should it obey.I claimed thatIwas first on earth,Mysoulput in the pleaThatIwas but the home for him;Heclaimed eternity.We argued long, and earnestly,But argued all in vain.Each one was sure that he was right,No point did either gain.So worn was I with argumentI closed my eyes to earth.How long I slept I do not know.I wakened to new birth.I looked around for my lost soul—Had it the victory won?I looked within, and then I foundMy soul and I were one.Were one on earth, are one in heav’n,The body is notI,’Tis but the garment of the soul,And in the grave must lie.But soul lives on, forever on,’Tis even one with God;It permeates all life, all space,Arising from its clodA spirit of the universe,—A light which never dies.For soul is all creation,And in the grave ne’er lies.
My soul and I a warfare waged,Which had the right of way?Precedence was a law laid down,Which one should it obey.I claimed thatIwas first on earth,Mysoulput in the pleaThatIwas but the home for him;Heclaimed eternity.We argued long, and earnestly,But argued all in vain.Each one was sure that he was right,No point did either gain.So worn was I with argumentI closed my eyes to earth.How long I slept I do not know.I wakened to new birth.I looked around for my lost soul—Had it the victory won?I looked within, and then I foundMy soul and I were one.Were one on earth, are one in heav’n,The body is notI,’Tis but the garment of the soul,And in the grave must lie.But soul lives on, forever on,’Tis even one with God;It permeates all life, all space,Arising from its clodA spirit of the universe,—A light which never dies.For soul is all creation,And in the grave ne’er lies.