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 that I was first on earth,
My soul put in the plea
That I was but the home for him;
He claimed 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 argument
I 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 found
My soul and I were one.
Were one on earth, are one in heav’n,
The body is not I,
’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 clod
A spirit of the universe,—
A light which never dies.
For soul is all creation,
And in the grave ne’er lies.