A God Of Wrath?

by Patience Worth

Patience Worth

Fearful, fearful! Oh, God of the lightnings!
Fearful, fearful! Oh, God of the thunders!
Fearful, fearful! Oh, God of the tempest!
Fearful, fearful! God that opeth the Earth
And tottereth the palaces!
Yea, yea, great God, awful in His wrath,
Awful in His wreaking out of justice!
Fearful, fearful, fearful!
Thou God, who from on high doth lift a finger-
And behold! I see that most beloved fall,
Writhing with the heat of Thy displeasure!
Fearful, fearful! Oh Thou upon a mighty
Throne of fire! But breathe and the universes
Shall sift as ashes through the ether,
Forever burning, forever writhing
In the heat of Thy fury!
Fearful, fearful! Who is he
Who has spoke the word? Fearful, fearful?
Let thy tongue freeze upon the word!-
I know no God-I know no God
Who in His wrath betrays!
Oh, I have found His mercy sunk
Within the flower's cups. I have beheld
His eyes reflected upon pale mornings,
And the surfaces of flat pools,
Which trembled beneath His glance.
I have felt His might! Yea in the storms
I have heard His voice; but ever
In the dinning of the thunder,
And the wickedness of the lightning's flame,
Behold, I have seen Him weep drops of mercy!
Oh, is it wondrous that His agony
Should rock the elements?
For very God, of very God that He be,
What measure may I set upon His agony?
When from this small cup which is mine,
This little scarlet pulse He has set within me,
Swinging upon a thong of love my heart,
I may sup agony enough to fell my soul
Prostrate upon its path, and set me thirst,
Thirst, thirst enough to send me seeking,
Seeking, through the tedious hours,
A thing upon which to lay my head?
Fearful, fearful? I know no word so spoken.
Fearful, fearful? Fearful?
What jest hath man played upon his brother!





Last updated January 14, 2019