For R. Q. G.
July 1916
O God, whose great inscrutable purposes
(Seen only of the one all-seeing eye)
Are as unchangeable as the azure sky,
And as fulfilled of infinite mysteries:
Are like a fast-locked castle without keys
Whereof the gates are very strong and high,
Impenetrable, and we poor fools die
Nor even know what thing beyond them is:
O God, by whom men’s lives are multiplied,
Are scattered broadcast in the world like grain,
And after long time reaped again and stored,
O Thou who only canst be glorified
By man’s own passion and the supreme pain,
Accept this sacrifice of blood outpoured.