THE PEBBLE’S SOLILOQUY.
Though but a pebble on the shore of time,
I feel my mission is sublime.
Though man may tread me ’neath his careless feet—
With scornful look will e’er me greet—
I have my place, no one that place can fill;
I live, and do my Master’s will.
There is a power that lies within my heart—
I must live on, and do my part.
I am a part of God—His loving thought,
And for some purpose I was wrought.
Naught else on earth could fill the pebble’s place.
To mountains grand my life I trace.
I will arise above my low estate,
And with the angels even mate.
I feel, I know, a pebble hath a soul,
And heaven is its right, its goal.
God put me here, so why should I complain?
I know I was not made in vain.
To you the song of ages I can sing.
Sweet flowers, in time, will from me spring.
And what is man? A pebble on Life’s strand—
With me, God holds him in His hand.
And e’en from me deep lessons he can learn.
To dust his body will return.
’Tis true he claims a soul, and so do I;
For soul is God, and God doth in me lie.
All that hath life, hath soul I do avow.
With love, all things God doth endow.
I have ambition, and some day will rise
To meet my God beyond the skies.
For everything on earth, or in the sea
Hath part in God, and immortality.
NOTE.
From the criticism of a friend, I am led to explain myself in regard to this poem (The Pebble) and some others. What is soul? That which lives forever—Well, a pebble disintegrates, and vegetation springs up from it. Vegetation supports the lower forms of life, which in turn support the higher, from atom up to God. Life is not matter, though in all matter—Life, Soul, goes on through all eternity. God is in everything that he has created; therefore, everything has soul.