Pocahontas and Other Poems (New York)/Folly
FOLLY.
"The fool hath said in his heart, there is no God."
Psalm xiv.
"No God! no God!" The simplest flower
That on the wild is found,
Shrinks as it drinks its cup of dew,
And trembles at the sound.
"No God!" astonished echo cries
From out her cavern hoar,
And every wandering bird that flies
Reproves the atheist-lore.
The solemn forest lifts its head,
The Almighty to proclaim,
The brooklet, on its crystal urn,
Doth leap to grave his name:
High swells the deep and vengeful sea
Along his billowy track,
And red Vesuvius opes his mouth,
To hurl the falsehood back.
The palm-tree, with its princely crest,
The cocoa's leafy shade,
The bread-fruit, bending to its lord,
In yon far island-glade;
The winged seeds that, borne by winds,
The roving sparrows feed,
The melon on the desert-sands,
Confute the scorner's creed.
"No God!" With indignation high
The fervent sun is stirr'd,
And the pale moon turns paler still
At such an impious word;
And, from their burning thrones, the stars
Look down with angry eye,
That thus a worm of dust should mock
Eternal Majesty.