“It shall be dark unto you, that ye shall not divine.”

Micah iii. 6.

I asked the Lord: “Sire, is this true

Which hosts of theologians hold,

That when we creatures censure you

For shaping griefs and ails untold

(Deeming them punishments undue)

You rage, as Moses wrote of old?

When we exclaim: ‘Beneficent

He is not, for he orders pain,

Or, if so, not omnipotent:

To a mere child the thing is plain!’

Those who profess to represent

You, cry out: ‘Impious and profane!’”

He: “Save me from my friends, who deem

That I care what my creatures say!

Mouth as you list: sneer, rail, blaspheme,

O manikin, the livelong day,

Not one grief-groan or pleasure-gleam

Will you increase or take away.

“Why things are thus, whoso derides,

May well remain my secret still . . .

A fourth dimension, say the guides,

To matter is conceivable.

Think some such mystery resides

Within the ethic of my will.”