Page:Poems (1915) G K Chesterton.djvu/74



AID the Lord God, "Build a house,

Build it in the gorge of death,

Found it in the throats of hell.

Where the lost sea muttereth,

Fires and whirlwinds, build it well."

Laboured sternly flame and wind,

But a little, and they cry,

"Lord, we doubt of this Thy will,

We are blind and murmur why,"

And the winds are murmuring still.

Said the Lord God, "Build a house,

Cleave its treasure from the earth,

With the jarring powers of hell

Strive with formless might and mirth,

Tribes and war-men, build it well."

Then the raw red sons of men

Brake the soil, and lopped the wood,

But a little and they shrill,

"Lord, we cannot view Thy good,"

And the wild men clamour still.