Page:The Poems and Prose remains of Arthur Hugh Clough, volume 2 (1869).djvu/115

 It had been proved in twenty ways at once, By many a doctor plain to many a dunce; There was no question but it must be so. And the Shade answered, that He did not know; He had no reading, and might be deceived, But still He was the Christ, as He believed.

And women, mild and pure, Forth from still homes and village schools did pass, And asked, if this indeed were thus, alas, What should they teach their children and the poor? The Shade replied, He could not know, But it was truth, the fact was so. Who had kept all commandments from his youth Yet still found one thing lacking—even Truth: And the Shade only answered, 'Go, make haste, Enjoy thy great possessions as thou may'st.'