The writings of John Greenleaf Whittier, Volume 4.
John Greenleaf Whittier, Ed.

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[19] O'er the rough chart of Existence,
     Rocks of sin and wastes of woe,
Soft airs breathe, and green leaves tremble,
     And cool fountains flow.

And to thee an answer cometh
     From the earth and from the sky,
And to thee the hills and waters
     And the stars reply.

But a soul-sufficing answer
     Hath no outward origin;
More than Nature's many voices
     May be heard within.

Even as the great Augustine
     Questioned earth and sea and sky,¹
And the dusty tomes of learning
     And old poesy.

But his earnest spirit needed
     More than outward Nature taught;
More than blest the poet's vision
     Or the sage's thought.

Only in the gathered silence
     Of a calm and waiting frame,
Light and wisdom as from Heaven
     To the seeker came.

Not to ease and aimless quiet
     Doth that inward answer tend,
But to works of love and duty
     As our being's end;